ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Complaints

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complaints about the work of her Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were received in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA does not routinely keep central records of all complaints for its Executive agencies and non-departmental bodies and fuller data could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The data in the following table reflect two snapshots, one for 2010-11 and one for the second six months of 2011-12, based on formal complaints about the standard of services provided to the public by core DEFRA and its agencies. These are complaints that have reached the final stage of core DEFRA or its agencies internal complaints procedures (eg in core DEFRA this involves internal, independent review by the Service Standards Complaints Adjudicator). The majority of complaints are resolved prior to this stage and are not logged centrally.
	If complainants are still dissatisfied after the internal procedures have been exhausted, they can ask their MP to refer their case to the parliamentary and health service ombudsman.
	Since September 2011 we have been routinely collecting data on formal complaints to DEFRA and its agencies.
	
		
			  Service Standards Complaints received 2010-11 Service Standards Complaints received 1 September 2011-31 March 2012 
			 Core DEFRA 5 3 
			    
			 Executive agencies   
			 Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency 46 33 
			 Rural Payments Agency 1,378 596 
			 Food and Environment Research Agency 16 9 
			 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 1 1 
			 Veterinary Medicines Directorate n/a 1 
			 n/a = Not available

Empty Property

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many buildings owned by her Department and the bodies for which she is responsible have been empty for more than two years; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: No buildings owned by Core DEFRA have been empty for more than two years.
	There are 13 buildings that have been empty for more than two years for which the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), is responsible; they are shown in the following table. All but one are buildings held by the Forestry Commission and part of the public forest estate, which is owned by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and placed at the disposal of the Forestry Commissioners under Section (3) 1 of the Forestry Act 1967.
	
		
			 Holding body Asset name Asset address Asset description 
			 Forestry Commission Warren Cottage Lynford Cross + water supply Lynford, Norfolk Derelict house 20 years +. Private water supply for 14 non-Forestry Commission houses. Capital project 2011-12 to improve water supply to enable disposal of property in the future. 
			 Forestry Commission Hazelborough Mech Workshop Hazelborough Wood, Northamptonshire Poor wood framed structure. 
			 Forestry Commission Fernworthy Store — Store building. 
			 Forestry Commission Luxborough Pol Store — Store building. 
			 Forestry Commission Haughmond Office Haughton Crossroads, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 4RW Timber building with felt roof/redundant small office. 
			 Forestry Commission High Stand Office Armathwaite, Carlisle, Cumbria Redundant small forester office. 
			 Forestry Commission Bakerstead Barn Eskdale, Holmrook, Cumbria, CA19 1UA Stone building. 
			 Forestry Commission Bothy Grizedale, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 OQJ Single storey stone clad former bunkhouse. 
			 Forestry Commission Old Bike Hire Unit and Picnic Area Grizedale, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 OQJ Former bike shop—timber shed. 
			 Forestry Commission Hawkhope Farmhouse Falstone, Hexham, NE48 1DD Redundant dwelling on three storeys. 
			 Forestry Commission Brown Head Farmhouse Brown Head Farmhouse, Cropton, Pickering, NO Dilapidated bothy. 
			 Forestry Commission Low Leaf Howe House Low Leaf Howe, Stape, Pickering, Y018 8HP Detached stone walled farmhouse, semi derelict. 
			 Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board The Former Pig Unit Hitchin Rd, Stotfold, Hitchin, Herts SG5 4JG Former pig unit—site is being sold and currently under offer.

Rural Areas: Business

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken to promote the interests of rural businesses.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA works across Government ensuring measures designed to support business and economic growth are having proportionate and positive impacts in rural areas.
	On 29 November 2011, the Government announced a strong package of new measures, designed to stimulate sustainable growth in the rural economy and help businesses reach their full potential. The results of this include the establishment of five Rural Growth Network pilots in 2012-13, which are designed to stimulate sustainable growth in the rural economy and to help businesses reach their full potential, and the targeting of £100 million of Rural Development Programme for England funding at meeting Rural Economy Growth Review priorities.
	Broadband connectivity is also vital for small businesses to be able to compete and grow and access new markets. To complement the Government's £530 million investment to support the roll out of broadband across all rural areas, DEFRA and Broadband Delivery UK have established the Rural Community Broadband Fund. This £20 million fund provides grant support to enable communities and businesses to access superfast broadband in hard to reach locations.

EDUCATION

Financial Services: Education

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will consider the creation of a database of personal finance teaching resources and volunteers to help young people; if he will consider a scheme to quality mark such resources where they are made available to teachers; and if he will consider using the Personal Finance Education Group charity to deliver such a scheme.

Nick Gibb: Finance education is currently taught as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. The last OFSTED survey of PSHE, in 2010, included limited evidence about the teaching of personal finance education because the subject was relatively new. We are looking at the quality of finance education as part of a review of PSHE to determine how we can improve the quality of all PSHE teaching.
	Support from businesses in and outside the financial services sector is important in helping schools with their finance education programmes. Schools are already drawing on expertise from financial institutions, and organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, to help deliver financial capability education. However, we want schools to have the flexibility to use their judgment about how best to deliver finance education, including which external partners to use, rather than for Government to approach businesses directly.
	We set out, in our White Paper, “The Importance of Teaching”, how schools will be freed from central Government direction, and how we will trust the professional judgment of teachers to decide on the teaching that best meets the needs of their pupils. Consistent with that principle, we have also protected front line school budgets, and reduced central Government programmes, so that schools can also decide how to use their resources to meet local priorities. We therefore have no plans to create a database of personal finance education teaching resources and volunteers. Schools are aware that there are a number of sources available from which they can obtain useful information, including, for example, the Personal Finance Education Group, who have a wide range of resources on their website aimed at teachers and finance education practitioners.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Housing and Council Tax Benefits

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average weekly payment of (a) council tax benefit and (b) housing benefit was to a (i) private renter and (ii) social tenant in each year since 1997.

Steve Webb: The available information requested has been placed in the Library.

Housing Benefit

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people aged 18 to 21 years old claimed housing benefit in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people aged 18 to 21 years old claiming housing benefit also claimed (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment support allowance on incapacity benefit in the latest period for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: The requested information on the number of housing benefit claimants by age is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Housing benefit recipients by age: February 2012 
			 Age Number of recipients 
			 Total 5,004,500 
			 18-21 156,890 
			 Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) 
		
	
	Information on the numbers of housing benefit claimants also claiming (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance is not currently available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Notes:
	1. Age groups are based on the age on the count date (second Thursday in the month), of either:
	(a) the recipient if they are single, or
	(b) the eider of the recipient or partner if claiming as a couple
	2. Recipients are as at the second Thursday of the month.
	3. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data is available monthly from November 2008 and February 2012 is the most recent available.
	4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training his Department provides to enable its staff to recognise victims of human trafficking.

Chris Grayling: The learning programme for the Department for Work and Pensions focuses on raising awareness of the customer's personal circumstances and also recognises that these can affect individuals in different ways and will change over time.
	All staff receive foundation learning which covers excellent customer service, diversity and customer needs. These deal with the wide range of circumstances that our customers may have, some less obvious than others, and stress how important it is to look for signs where the customer does not give us this information directly and to offer appropriate support.
	In particular the learning programme for Jobcentre Plus advisers is regularly updated to ensure advisers have up-to-date skills to deal with any customer interaction, and supports them in making relevant and appropriate decisions on individual customers. The key messages throughout the learning focus on providing a personalised, flexible service to customers and treating them as individuals, building strong relationships with them.
	The learning provides an understanding of why this approach is important; what it means to the claimant; what it looks like and how it works in practice. It further supports the adviser to identify the range of claimants and the level of individual support they would need to provide.

Legionnaires' Disease: Edinburgh

Alistair Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland has visited the premises operated by (a) North British Distillery Company, Edinburgh, (b) Macfarlan Smith, Edinburgh and (c) Burton's Biscuit factory, Sighthill, Edinburgh, for the purpose of ascertaining that measures to prevent the development and spread of Legionnaires' disease have been taken in each year from 2007 to 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: HSE inspectors have made the following visits between 2007 and 2012 for the purpose of assessing the measures in place to manage legionella risks at these companies:
	(a)North British Distillery Ltd
	No specific visits to assess the management of legionella risks.
	Last inspection was 15 March 2010 to assess their management of major accident hazards.
	(b)Macfarlan Smith Ltd
	A visit to assess the management of legionella risks was carried out on 4 February 2010.
	(c)Burtons Foods Ltd
	A visit to assess the management of legionella risks was carried out on 17 June 2008.
	Inspections are only one tool that HSE has available to help companies meet their legal obligations to control and manage the risks in relation to legionella. HSE also provides free guidance in addition to ongoing work with water treatment firms and trade bodies.

Pensioners: Social Security Benefits

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to provide information for pensioners who are paid benefits by Giro cheque about changes to the method of payment.

Steve Webb: We are writing to those currently being paid by cheque to tell them that cheques are ending and that they must let us know how they want to be paid in the future. We will ensure that people are clear about their payment options once cheques end and that, for those moving to the new Simple Payment service, the change is as seamless as possible.

Pensioners: Social Security Benefits

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners were receiving benefit payment by Giro cheque on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: The information is not available in the format requested as data held relates to “payment accounts”. A customer may receive benefits in the form of a separate cheque payment for each benefit to which they are entitled or a single, combined, payment. Each of these payments is termed a payment account.
	In February 2012 the total number of pension credit and retirement pension payment accounts totalled 56,380. There were an additional 6,920 payment accounts relating to attendance allowance. We are unable to quantify the number of any additional payments accounts for other benefits to which pensioners may be entitled.
	These figures represent less than 0.5% of the total pensions payload.

Pensions

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) basic state retirement pension, (b) SERPS and S2P awards were as a proportion of average earnings for (i) men and (ii) women with a lifetime of average earnings in each of the last 30 years.

Steve Webb: The information requested is as follows:
	The information on basic state retirement pension is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Basic state retirement pension rate as a percentage of average earnings 
			  Rate as a percentage of average earnings 
			 Date of uprating Female Male 
			 November 1981 32.4 21.1 
			 November 1982 33.2 21.3 
			 November 1983 31.3 20.3 
			 November 1984 30.5 20.0 
			 November 1985 30.3 19.9 
			 July 1986 28.2 18.7 
			 April 1987 26.7 17.6 
			 April 1988 25.1 16.7 
			 April 1989 23.9 16.2 
			 April 1990 23.3 15.9 
			 April 1991 23.4 16.3 
			 April 1992 22.5 15.9 
			 April 1993 22.2 15.9 
			 April 1994 22.0 15.9 
		
	
	
		
			 April 1995 21.7 15.6 
			 April 1996 21.6 15.6 
			 April 1997 20.8 15.0 
			 April 1998 20.5 14.8 
			 April 1999 20.2 14.7 
			 April 2000 19.6 14.3 
			 April 2001 19.8 14.5 
			 April 2002 19.5 14.4 
			 April 2003 19.3 14.4 
			 April 2004 19.1 14.5 
			 April 2005 18.8 14.4 
			 April 2006 18.7 14.3 
			 April 2007 18.8 14.4 
			 April 2008 18.7 14.3 
			 April 2009 19.0 14.8 
			 April 2010 19.0 14.9 
			 April 2011 19.8 15.5 
			 Notes: 1. The table is for men and women under age 80 on their own national insurance contribution. 2. People with a lifetime of average earnings are expected to be entitled to the full rate of basic state pension. The figures for females are therefore calculated by dividing the full rate of basic state pension by average earnings for females. The figures for males are calculated by dividing the full rate of basic state pension by average earnings for males. 3. Average earnings are the means of gross (£) weekly pay for full-time employees in United Kingdom. 4. Average earnings figures for the period prior to 1997 are taken from the New Earnings Survey (NES) estimates of earnings for all adults. 5. Average earnings figures from 1997 onwards are taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) which replaced the New Earnings Survey (NES) in 2004. 6. Average earnings for months other than April use the figure for April of the same year. 7. The rate of basic state pension as a percentage of average earnings between 1971 and 2010 is published in table 2.1 of The Abstract of Statistics for Benefits, National insurance Contributions, and Indices of Prices and Earnings, 2010, Department for Work and Pensions: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/abstract/abstract2010.pdf 8. The figures for April 2011 are based on the latest earnings data from ASHE for April 2011 which is subject to revision later this year as standard practice. Source: DWP calculations 
		
	
	(b) The information on additional pension is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Additional Pension (AP) at award as percentage of average earnings in the year pension age is reached 
			  AP at award as percentage of average earnings in that year 
			 Financial year pension age reached Female Male 
			 1982-83 3.3 3.8 
			 1983-84 4.1 4.8 
			 1984-85 5.2 6.2 
			 1985-86 5.8 6.8 
			 1986-87 6.5 7.7 
			 1987-88 7.5 8.7 
			 1988-89 8.2 9.5 
			 1989-90 9.0 10.5 
			 1990-91 10.0 11.7 
			 1991-92 10.6 12.5 
			 1992-93 11.5 13.9 
			 1993-94 12.7 15.3 
			 1994-95 13.9 16.7 
		
	
	
		
			 1995-96 14.9 17.7 
			 1996-97 15.9 18.8 
			 1997-98 16.2 19.2 
			 1998-99 17.3 20.2 
			 1999-2000 16.6 19.5 
			 2000-01 16.6 19.8 
			 2001-02 16.4 19.6 
			 2002-03 16.1 19.2 
			 2003-04 16.1 19.2 
			 2004-05 16.0 19.3 
			 2005-06 15.1 18.3 
			 2006-07 14.5 17.5 
			 2007-08 15.7 18.6 
			 2008-09 15.5 18.1 
			 2009-10 15.4 18.2 
			 2010-11 15.0 17.9 
			 2011-12 14.7 17.4 
			 Notes: 1. The table is for men and women under age 80 on their own national insurance contribution. 2. The figures for females are calculated using the average earnings for females. The figures for males are calculated using the average earnings for males. 3. Average earnings are the means of gross (£) weekly pay for full-time employees in United Kingdom. 4. Average earnings figures for the period prior to 1997 are taken from the New Earnings Survey (NES) estimates of earnings for all adults. 5. Average earnings figures from 1997 onwards are taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) which replaced the New Earnings Survey (NES) in 2004. 6. Average earnings for each financial year use the figure for April at the start of that financial year. 7. AP includes State Earnings Related Pension Scheme and state second pension. Source: DWP calculations

Social Security Benefits: Greater Manchester

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Blackley and Broughton constituency will be eligible for fewer benefits upon the introduction of the benefit cap in April 2013.

Chris Grayling: The information is not available for Blackley and Broughton constituency.
	Following the concessions made in the House of Commons on 1 February, we estimate that the introduction of an exemption for those in receipt of the support component of employment support allowance and a grace period of 39 weeks for claimants who have been in employment for 52 weeks or more before leaving work will reduce the number of households affected by the cap to around 57,000.
	This assumes that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. In all cases the Department is working to support households through this transition, using existing provision through Jobcentre Plus and the Work Programme to move as many into work as possible.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to offer IT and training assistance to housing associations so that they can assist in the roll-out of universal credit.

Chris Grayling: We recognise that registered social landlords are important partners in helping to make universal credit (UC) a success and the UC programme is currently developing an approach to working with them during UC roll-out. We are building the UC system to maximise the numbers of people who are able to make their own claim online and it is expected that the vast majority of claimants will do this. As such we do not envisage housing associations requiring specialist IT training in order to assist claimants in using the UC website.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who he proposes will determine whether a person is classed as vulnerable for the purposes of direct payment of rent, or permitting fortnightly payment periods, when universal credit is introduced.

Chris Grayling: We are still considering how payment exception arrangements will work in universal credit. We envisage that the delivery of payment exceptions will be through the core UC delivery organisation and decisions will be taken by a decision maker.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 31 January 2012, Official Report, column 523W, on universal credit, whether it remains his policy that new claims to tax credits will end in April 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: I can confirm that new claims to universal credit will be taken from October 2013 with new claims to the current benefits and credits, including tax credits for working age claimants, being gradually phased out by the end of April 2014.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his answer of 7 July 2011, Official Report, column 1320W, whether it remains his policy that, from October 2013, all new applications for out-of-work support will be treated as claims to universal credit; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: I can confirm that new claims to universal credit will be taken from October 2013 with new claims to the current benefits and credits being gradually phased out by the end of April 2014.
	From April 2013 we will be accepting claims for universal credit from a small number of claimants in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire area. This will be an early controlled implementation and will ensure that we can learn from our experiences in advance of the formal October 2013 go live.

Veterans

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which projects providing assistance to veterans his Department is funding in Worcestershire.

Chris Grayling: We are not currently funding any organisations or projects in Worcestershire which provide assistance specifically to veterans through Flexible Support Fund or any other DWP funding.
	The following special points should be noted:
	In May we approved £3,540 start up costs for a Work Club in Kidderminster run by a registered charity called Forces Support. The charity support families who have lost a serving member of the forces, although the Work Club is aimed at supporting unemployed people in Kidderminster and is not specifically for veterans.
	Jobcentre Plus has an armed forces champion covering Herefordshire and Worcestershire who acts as the liaison between the forces, including the Territorial Army, and staff in the local jobcentres. They also attend local liaison groups which support ex-forces personnel to ensure they are kept up to date with the Jobcentre Plus offer including the Get Britain Working initiatives, the Youth Contract, new enterprise allowance and the Work programme all of which can be accessed as early entry by ex-forces personnel.
	In addition we will look to use our Flexible Support Fund to provide specialist one off training. Examples have included SIA licence (security industry) and a locksmith qualification (self employment). We also have a range of FSF grant funded projects in Worcestershire covering business start up advice, offender support, IAG, job broking and routes into training, parenting and relationship support, and homelessness support.
	Ex-forces customers with health issues are supported through our DEA network, as well as employment related support. Our DEAs and advisers have links with a range of local partners and organisations to which we can refer our customers for specific support, which includes mental health, drug and alcohol, anger management, housing, relationship support etc.

Work Capability Assessment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his answers of 24 November 2011, Official Report, columns 569-70W and 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 295W, if he will provide statistics drawn from the Department's Management Information System on the total number of work capability assessments resulting from reassessment which have been completed to date.

Chris Grayling: The data requested are not available.
	Official statistics on work capability assessment outcomes for claimants going through the incapacity benefits reassessment programme have now been published and the Department plans to update these official statistics on 3 July 2012. As Official Statistics in this area are now available and an update is forthcoming the Department does not produce or release other, similar analyses of the data.
	The latest publication can be found on the Departmental website here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_ib

Work Experience

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of Government-sponsored unpaid workers who were in work placements that (a) were and (b) were not classed as being of community benefit in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: The Government do not sponsor unpaid workers in work placements. Jobcentre Plus offers unemployed people a range of employment support programmes to help people get back to work, and the information available is published.
	Statistics published on 16 May for the period January 2011 to February 2012 inclusive for the Get Britain Working measures can be found at:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/pwp/pwp_gbw_may12.pdf
	Statistics for Mandatory Work Activity, released on 12 June for the period May 2011 to February 2012 inclusive, can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/pwp/mwa_may12.pdf

Working Conditions

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many investigations into excessive heat in the workplace were conducted by the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last five years.

Chris Grayling: The number of investigations into excessive heat in the workplace conducted by the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of investigations 
			 2007-08 45 
			 2008-09 30 
			 2009-10 30 
			 2010-11 14 
			 2011-12 8 
		
	
	The above information is current as at 12 June 2012 and includes both investigations which have been completed and those which are ongoing.

TRANSPORT

Bus Services

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many operators have permits to run community bus routes.

Norman Baker: The Traffic Commissioners are responsible for issuing permits under section 22 of the Transport Act 1985 to organisations operating without a view to profit to provide community bus services. Information on section 22 permits issued since 1985 is not held in the format requested. The Traffic Commissioners publish in their annual report the numbers of section 22 permits issued in Great Britain, copies of which are available in the House Libraries. In 2010/11, 86 section 22 permits were issued.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to tackle (a) uninsured drivers, (b) fraudulent insurance claims and (c) the cost of motor insurance;
	(2)  what steps have been taken in the last (a) two and (b) five years to tackle uninsured drivers.

Michael Penning: The Department has taken a number of steps to tackle uninsured driving, fraud and the cost of motor insurance:
	(a) The continuous insurance scheme (CIE) introduced last year has enabled enforcement action to be taken against those who keep a vehicle without insurance. CIE supplements police powers introduced in 2005 to seize uninsured vehicles being driven on the road.
	(b) Working with the insurance industry to allow them access to DVLA driver details on penalty points and disqualifications to reduce fraud.
	(c) On 2 May the Secretary of State for Transport hosted a cross Government summit with the insurance industry on measures to reduce the cost of premiums to lessen the incentive drive while uninsured.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action she intends to take to harmonise the systems for retention of vehicle registration marks pending transfer between Northern Ireland and Britain.

Michael Penning: Officials are currently reviewing the changes required to allow registration marks to be retained by customers in Northern Ireland in the same way as in Britain. Any changes to regulations are anticipated to be introduced next year.

Railway Network

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport over what distance the railway track in Rugby has been remodelled to facilitate higher track speeds as part of the enhancement works of the railway infrastructure since 1998.

Theresa Villiers: The reconstruction and remodelling of Rugby station layout and the associated changes to signalling took place over approximately 15 miles.

Railway Network

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) former speed and (b) new higher speed was each time the railway infrastructure was enhanced in Rugby since 1998.

Theresa Villiers: Reconstruction and re-signalling of the Rugby station layout area increased line speeds from a maximum of 75 mph to a maximum of 125 mph.

Railway Network

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what phases of enhancement work have been undertaken on the rail infrastructure in Rugby since 1998; what (a) new platforms, (b) newly positioned platforms and (c) other structures were constructed in each phase; and what the (i) dates and (ii) costs were of each phase.

Theresa Villiers: Development and reconstruction of the station and track layout in use today took place between 2004 and 2009. Network Rail estimated the total cost of the project at £190 million.

Railway Network

Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment her Department has made of the benefits accruing from renewal of the flyover provided as part of the enhancement works to railway infrastructure undertaken in Rugby since 1998.

Theresa Villiers: The Department has not specifically appraised the refurbishment of the flyovers at Rugby that were completed in 2008 as part of the West Coast modernisation programme. The strategy for modernisation of the West Coast Main Line was appraised by the Strategic Rail Authority at route-wide level and is reported in “The Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line” published by the National Audit Office in 2006.

Railway Stations

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which train operating companies have made requests to (a) close and (b) reduce opening hours at station ticket offices in the latest period for which figures are available; and in respect of which stations such applications have been made.

Theresa Villiers: Since May 2010:
	(a) there has been a request from one train operating company, London Midland, to close station ticket offices as shown in the following table.
	(b) there have been requests from seven train operating companies: Chiltern Railways; East Coast; East Midlands Trains; London Midland; Northern Rail; Southeastern; and South West Trains, to reduce opening hours at station ticket offices as shown in the table.
	
		
			 Train operating company Station 
			 Requests to close station ticket offices  
			 London Midland Adderley Park 
			  Bescot Stadium 
			  Cheddington 
			  Duddeston 
			  Jewellery Quarter 
			  Lye 
			  Small Heath 
			  Witton 
			  Wythall 
			   
			 Requests to reduce station ticket offices opening hours  
			 Chiltern Railways Aylesbury Vale Parkway 
			  Aylesbury 
			  Banbury 
		
	
	
		
			  Beaconsfield 
			  Bicester North 
			  Birmingham Moor Street 
			  Denham 
			  Gerrards Cross 
			  Great Missenden 
			  Haddenham and Thame Parkway 
			  High Wycombe 
			  London Marylebone 
			  Northolt Park 
			  Princes Risborough 
			  Seer Green and Jordans 
			  Stoke Mandeville 
			  Warwick 
			  Warwick Parkway 
			  Wendover 
			   
			 East Coast Darlington 
			  Durham 
			   
			 East Midlands Trains Melton Mowbray 
			   
			 London Midland Acocks Green 
			  Apsley 
			  Aston 
			  Berkhamsted 
			  Bletchley 
			  Berkswell 
			  Birmingham Snow Hill 
			  Blake Street. 
			  Bournville 
			  Butlers Lane 
			  Canley 
			  Chester Road 
			  Coleshill Parkway 
			  Coseley 
			  Cradley Heath 
			  Droitwich Spa 
			  Dudley Port 
			  Edrington 
			  Five Ways 
			  Four Oaks 
			  Gravelly Hill 
			  Great Malvern 
			  Hall Green 
			  Hampton-in-Arden 
			  Hamstead 
			  Hartford 
			  Hemel Hempstead 
			  Kidderminster 
			  Kings Langley 
			  Kings Norton 
			  Langley Green 
			  Lea Hall 
		
	
	
		
			  Leighton Buzzard 
			  Lichfield City 
			  Lichfield Trent Valley 
			  Longbridge 
			  Long Buckby 
			  Malvern Link 
			  Marston Green 
			  Northfield 
			  Nuneaton 
			  Old Hill 
			  Olton 
			  Perry Barr 
			  Redditch 
			  Rowley Regis 
			  Sandwell & Dudley 
			  Selly Oak 
			  Shirley 
			  Smethwick Galton Bridge 
			  Smethwick Rolfe Street 
			  Spring Road 
			  Stechford 
			  Stourbridge Junction 
			  Stourbridge Town 
			  Stratford upon Avon 
			  Sutton Coldfield 
			  Tame Bridge Parkway 
			  Telford Central 
			  The Hawthorns 
			  Tile Hill 
			  Tipton 
			  Tyseley 
			  University 
			  Walsall 
			  Wellington 
			  Widney Manor 
			  Winsford 
			  Wolverton 
			  Worcester Foregate Street 
			  Worcester Shrub Hill 
			  Wylde Green 
			  Yardley Wood 
			   
			 Northern Rail Halifax 
			  Northwich 
			  Mexborough 
			  Thorne North 
			  Wilmslow 
			  Worksop 
			   
			 Southeastern Canterbury East 
			  Sittingbourne 
			  Tunbridge Wells 
			   
			 South West Trains Feniton 
		
	
	
		
			  Sherborne 
			  Templecombe

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

DEFRA Question Time

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Leader of the House what the reasons were for reducing the allocation of oral questions to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and if he will reconsider that decision.

George Young: In April 2011, following a request from the Official Opposition, the Government increased the time allocated for oral questions to the Deputy Prime Minister. As a consequence of this change it was necessary for other changes to be made to the oral questions rota, including reducing the allocation of oral questions to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
	While the status of the oral questions rota is kept under review, I have no current plans to increase the amount of time allocated to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs oral questions.

Consideration on Report

Simon Hughes: To ask the Leader of the House what discussions he has had on ensuring that sufficient time for debate of new clauses and amendments to Government Bills is given at Report stage.

George Young: The Government recognise the value of parliamentary scrutiny of legislation. This Government has provided more days than the last administration for Report stages and where necessary we will provide more than one day for Report stage.

Ministerial Statements

Alun Michael: To ask the Leader of the House if he will take steps to introduce penalties for Ministers who do not meet the House's expectations in respect of ministerial statements.

George Young: As I said to the right hon. Gentleman in my written answer to him of 22 March 2012, Official Report, column 796W, Ministers are always mindful of the requirement of the Ministerial Code that,
	“when Parliament is in session, the most important announcements of Government policy should be made in the first instance in Parliament”.
	The proposition that there should be specific penalties imposed by this House, over and above those already available, was considered and rejected after the debate which took place on 5 December last year.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what the total monetary value is of each contract between his Department and Atos;
	(2)  when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has no contracts with Atos.

Bahrain

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he has given to the human rights records of members of the Bahraini Government who plan to visit the UK during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Alistair Burt: The Government have been clear that regardless of the country concerned where there is independent, reliable and credible evidence that an individual has committed human rights abuses, the individual will not normally be permitted to enter the UK.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects Bosnia and Herzegovina to fulfil the criteria needed to start the process to enter NATO.

David Lidington: The UK fully supports Bosnia and Herzegovina's NATO membership aspirations. At the Chicago summit on 20-21 May the UK and Allies welcomed the political agreement reached on 9 March 2012 on the registration of immoveable defence property as state property. This agreement is an important step towards fulfilment of the condition set by NATO Foreign Ministers in Tallinn in April 2010 for the full participation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Membership Action Plan process. The UK urges Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement the agreement without delay in order to start the first MAP cycle as soon as possible, and looks forward to a review of implementation of the agreement in the autumn.

Pay

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) highest, (b) median, (c) median full-time equivalent and (d) lowest full-time equivalent salary was paid by (i) his Department and (ii) its associated public bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13.

Henry Bellingham: The following table indicates the highest, median, median full-time equivalents and lowest full-time equivalents for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and its associated bodies.
	The location related allowances are taken into account for Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Great Britain China Centre but not for the FCO, FCO Services, British Council or Wilton Park.
	The lowest salary figures for Westminster Foundation for Democracy have been withheld due to data protection concerns given the small data sample.
	
		
			 FCO table of salaries 
			 £ 
			   2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 
			 FCO Highest 180,000 180,000 193,837 
			  Median 27,911 27,911 27,513 
			  Median FTE 28,451 28,451 27,778 
			  Lowest FTE 16,635 16,470 16,135 
			      
			 Wilton Park Highest 115,000 115,000 115,000 
			  Median 21,432 21,432 18,974 
			  Median FTE 21,432 21,696 21,432 
			  Lowest FTE 16,635 16,635 16,135 
			      
			 FCO Services Highest 131,000 131,000 131,000 
			  Median 27,487 27,650 27,421 
			  Median FTE 28,039 28,039 27,639 
			  Lowest FTE 15,750 15,750 15,246 
			      
			 British Council Highest 169,383 169,383 169,383 
			  Median    
			  Median FTE 33,075 33,075 31,500 
			  Lowest FTE 15,000 15,000 15,000 
			      
			 WFD Highest 97,000 97,000 97,000 
			  Median 32,509 32,509 35,883 
			  Median FTE 35,464 35,464 35,883 
		
	
	
		
			  Lowest FTE (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			      
			 GBCC Highest 72,450 72,450 72,450 
			  Median 39,197 39,197 31,590 
			  Median FTE 39,197 39,197 35,074 
			  Lowest FTE 27,507 30,849 31,153 
			 (1) Withheld data protection concerns

Procurement

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total (a) number and (b) value of contracts issued by (i) his Department and (ii) bodies for which he is responsible which were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises was in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's spend with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been reported in the Cabinet Office report, “Making Government business more accessible to SMEs—One Year On”:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/making-government-business-more-accessible-smes-one-year

Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on recruitment, to what extent his Department and its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies used name-blank CVs or the blind sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system to recruit staff in the last year.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), its non departmental public bodies and executive agencies follow the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles. Appointments are on merit through fair and open competition and all our assessments are competence or skills-based. Our recruitment processes include a variety of assessment tools, including online numeric and verbal reasoning tests and assessment centres where assessors have no access to CVs or any other personal details about candidates. The FCO is currently in discussion with Civil Service Resourcing about the possible future use of their e-recruitment system.

Sri Lanka

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department plans to take to support the implementation of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka.

Alistair Burt: We pressed for and welcomed the resolution on Sri Lanka agreed at the UN Human Rights Council in March; and we have called on the Government of Sri Lanka to play its part in implementing the resolution. The Prime Minister emphasised this most recently in a short discussion with President Rajapaksa at the Commonwealth Secretary General's lunch on 6 June. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) made the same points when he met the Sri Lankan Minister for External Affairs on 6 June. With international partners, we will continue to encourage Sri Lanka to make early progress, including during the Universal Periodic Review of Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council in October.

Syria

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Russia on the situation in Syria and the need to protect the civilian population in that country.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), discussed the situation in Syria with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow on 28 May and again in the margins of the Heart of Asia conference in Kabul on 14 June. They agreed that the situation in Syria was worse in all respects since their 28 May meeting. The Secretary of State reiterated his welcome in principle for the Russian suggestion of an international conference on Syria, which should set out the principles of a political process in Syria, including a plan for political transition and full implementation of the Annan Plan.

Thailand

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the level of insurgency in Southern Thailand.

Jeremy Browne: Our embassy in Bangkok monitors the situation in Southern Thailand closely. The Thai authorities claim that the situation is improving hence lifting martial law in some districts in the southern provinces. However Southern Thailand is still governed by emergency decree and we have seen no solid evidence that the overall situation has improved. We regularly raise our concerns about the situation in Southern Thailand with the Thai authorities. The UK has also funded a number of small-scale projects in Southern Thailand, including one with the non-governmental organisation Deep South Watch, which was designed to capture casualty/fatality data in Southern Thailand more accurately. Since then, Deep South Watch has provided the embassy with monthly reports on developments. The UK has also invited experts involved in the Northern Ireland peace process to share experiences with the relevant Thai decision-makers. We will continue to offer such expertise and to work closely with our diplomatic partners in this area.

Ukraine

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on official ministerial visits to Ukraine during the European football championships.

William Hague: The Government fully support England's participation in Euro 2012. We hope this is a successful tournament for the England team, the fans, and the people of Ukraine and Poland.
	No Ministers will be attending group games at Euro 2012. We are keeping attendance at later stages of the tournament under review.

SCOTLAND

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not have any contracts with Atos.

David Livingstone

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in the (a) Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (b) Department for International Development on (i) Malawi and (ii) plans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Dr David Livingstone's birth in 2013.

David Mundell: Scotland Office officials are in regular contact with counterparts at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development. A meeting of the three Departments is due to take place to discuss plans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Dr David Livingstone's birth in 2013.

David Livingstone

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) key stakeholders in Scotland on (i) Malawi and (ii) plans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Dr David Livingstone's birth in 2013.

David Mundell: I have had no meetings with the Scottish Government to discuss Malawi or plans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Dr David Livingstone's birth.
	I have met with representatives of the Scotland Malawi Partnership to discuss ways that the Scotland Office can support events to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Dr David Livingstone's birth. A follow-up meeting including representatives of the Scotland Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development is scheduled to take place later this month.

Pay

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff working for his Department are employed through off-payroll engagements costing less than £58,200 per annum; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: With the exception of three temporary agency staff who are paid significantly less than £58,200, no other staff working in the Scotland Office are paid through off-payroll engagements.

WALES

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total monetary value is of each contract between her Department and Atos.

David Jones: None. The Wales Office does not directly hold contracts with Atos but uses the buying power of larger Government Departments such as the Ministry of Justice.

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when each contract between her Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

David Jones: The Wales Office has not directly agreed, renewed or extended contracts with Atos, but uses the contracts through the Ministry of Justice.

Pay

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff working for her Department are employed through off-payroll engagements costing less than £58,200 per annum; and if she will make a statement.

David Jones: None.

Procurement

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if she will give the total (a) number and (b) value of contracts issued by her Department which were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Jones: The Wales Office has not issued or awarded any contracts to small and medium-sized enterprises in the latest period. The Wales Office does not directly award contracts but uses Ministry of Justice or other larger Government Departments.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  what the total monetary value is of each contract between his Department and Atos;
	(2)  when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

Edward Garnier: The Treasury Solicitor's Department, Attorney-General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate do not hold any contracts with Atos.
	The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) joined a DWP contract for occupational health services (OHS) with Atos on 15 February 2010. This contract runs until 2013. It cost £6,294 in 2010-11 and £4,492 in 2011-12.
	The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has a contract for OHS with Atos. This contract began on 1 February 2006 with an initial term of three years with the option to extend for a further two years. The option to extend was exercised and the contract continued until 31 January 2011. Pending the introduction of a new pan-Government framework contract for OHS by the Government Procurement Service, the Department has continued to use the services of Atos for its OHS requirements. Since February 2006 CPS has spent £0.7 million on these services.

EU Law

Graham Jones: To ask the Attorney-General what assessment he has made of whether a ban on the import of foie gras into the UK would contravene EU law.

Edward Garnier: By long-standing convention, observed by successive Administrations and embodied in the Ministerial Code, the fact that the Law Officers may or may not have advised or have been requested to advise on a particular issue, and the content of any advice, is not disclosed outside Government.

Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on recruitment, to what extent the Law Officers' Departments and their non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies used name-blank CVs or the blind sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system to recruit staff in the last year.

Edward Garnier: The Law Officers Departments do not currently use the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system.

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Attorney-General which regulations the Law Officers' Departments repealed between 1 February 2012 and 31 May 2012; and what the anticipated total savings to those affected will be of repealing such regulations.

Edward Garnier: None.

HEALTH

Cancer: Drugs

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications there have been to the Cancer Drugs Fund to date; and how many such applications were (a) approved or (b) declined by (i) age, (ii) gender, (iii) ethnicity and (iv) deprivation.

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer patients in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority region have accessed drugs through the Cancer Drug Fund since its inception; and what the total cost to the NHS was in each region.

Paul Burstow: The Department does not collect information on the number of applications made to the Cancer Drugs Fund.
	Information on the number of patients who have received cancer drugs and spend by strategic health authority (SHA) under the interim cancer drugs funding arrangements in 2010-11 (from October 2010 to the end of March 2011) and under the Cancer Drugs Fund (from April 2011 to the end of February 2012) is shown in the following table. Final figures for 2011-12, based on the final accounts, are expected to be available by the end of June.
	
		
			 Strategic health authority Number of patients funded 2010-11(1) Amount spent 2010-11(2) (£000) Number of patients funded from April 2011 to end February 2012 Total number of patients funded since October 2010(1) Amount spent in 2011-12 (to end February) (£000) 
			 North East 420 5,249 629 1,049 4,743 
			 North West 266 7,400 929 1,195 8,034 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 178 1,400 738 916 2,840 
			 East Midlands 178 3,157 799 977 3,649 
			 West Midlands 292 2,400 1,508 1,800 11,973 
			 East of England 246 4,286 1,169 1,415 8,967 
			 London 443 5,915 1,209 1,652 19,020 
			 South East Coast 306 2,159 1,036 1,342 9,455 
			 South Central 290 3,200 714 1,004 1,919 
			 South West 161 3,088 1,168 1,329 9,930 
		
	
	
		
			 Total 2,780 38,254 9,899 12,679 80,529 
			 Notes: 1. Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the Cancer Drugs Fund. 2. This figure includes end of year spending commitments. Source: Information supplied to the Department of Health by SHAs

Contraceptives

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  who will be responsible for monitoring out of area payments for contraception services from April 2013;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 24 May 2012, Official Report, column 860W, on genito-urinary medicine, what steps he plans to take to ensure that a (a) person can access contraception services outside the local authority area that they live in and (b) service provider will be paid for providing contraception to a person who lives outside their local authority area.

Anne Milton: We intend to make regulations under section 6c of the NHS Act 2006 (as inserted by section 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012) that will require local authorities to commission confidential, open-access contraception services. This legislation will ensure that local authorities cannot restrict access to these services only to people who are resident in their area.
	The ring-fenced grant for public health will allow local authorities to fund the provision of services mandated through regulations, including contraception services. Local authorities will be responsible for paying the providers of the services they commission. If they wish to, local authorities may come to arrangements for payments to be made or received in respect of contraception care provided to people from outside their local area.

Cord Blood: Donors

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what representations he has received from (a) individuals and (b) organisations on the availability of umbilical cord blood donation;
	(2)  if his Department will take steps to make umbilical cord blood donation more widely available.

Anne Milton: In July 2010, the Department asked NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to lead a review on the future of unrelated donor stem cell transplantation in the United Kingdom. The UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum was established and considered views from scientists, clinicians, economists and patient representatives working in this area. The published review, ‘The Future of Unrelated donor Stem Cell Transplantation in the UK’, included 20 recommendations on stem cell transplant services, including the improvement of the provision of cord blood stem cells. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
	The Government welcomed the report and allocated £4 million to NHSBT and Anthony Nolan to improve patient outcomes. We are in discussion with NHS Blood and Transplant and Anthony Nolan for further implementation of the recommendations and the funding available for this for the 2012-13 business year. This will include an increase in the number of cord blood units stored in line with the review by the Stem Cell Strategic Forum.
	We have also recognised the shortage of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic donors on all major international stem cell registries. This is the reason for focusing on collection centres at hospitals based in ethnically diverse communities.

Food Labelling

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his oral answer of 27 March 2012, Official Report, column 1336, which high street outlets are sharing and showing calorie information as part of the Responsibility Deal.

Anne Milton: 45 businesses, including high street outlets, are currently signed up to the out of home calorie labelling pledge and either have introduced or are in the process of introducing calorie information. These are as follows:
	Artizian
	ASDA
	Bartlett Mitchell Ltd
	Burger King United Kingdom Ltd
	Camden Food Co.
	Co-operative Group (The)
	Compass Group UK and Ireland
	Cricketer Farm
	Dominos Pizza Group Ltd
	EAT
	Greggs plc
	Harper Adams University College
	Harvester Restaurants
	ISS Facility Services—Food and Hospitality
	KFC UKI
	Kraft Foods UK
	London Bread & Cake Company
	Marks & Spencer
	McCain Foods (GB) Ltd
	McDonald's Restaurants Ltd
	Merlin Entertainments Ltd
	Midcounties Co-operative
	MITIE Catering Services Ltd
	Morrisons Supermarkets plc
	Nestle UK
	Odeon Cinemas Ltd
	Pizza Hut (UK) Ltd
	Pret A Manger
	Rodda's
	Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Sainsbury's Supermarket Ltd
	(Seven) 7 Day Catering Ltd
	SkinniMalinx Ltd
	Sodexo
	Southern Co-operative (The)
	Starbucks Coffee Company
	Subway International B.V.
	Tesco plc
	The Real Greek Food Company
	Unilever UK Ltd
	United Biscuits (UK) Ltd
	Waitrose
	Warburtons Ltd
	Wimpy Restaurants Group Ltd
	YO! Sushi

Health Professions Council

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department takes to oversee the work of the Health Professions Council (HPC); what sanctions he has made available to the HPC to regulate psychologists and other health professionals; what guidance he provides to the HPC to enable such regulation; what guidance the HPC provides to its members; what timescale the HPC normally works to when it receives a complaint; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Health Professions Council (HPC) is an independent statutory body established under the Health Professions Order 2001. The legislative framework in which it operates is set out in that order and any rules made by the council.
	The Department does not issue guidance to the HPC about the way that it undertakes its functions.
	Oversight of the Health Professions Council is through the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE), which conducts annual performance reviews of all the health professions regulators. Its most recent performance review report was laid before Parliament on 28 June 2011. In respect of the HPC it commented that:
	‘The median time taken from receipt of initial complaint to the final investigating committee decision was five months. The median time taken from final investigating committee decision to final fitness to practise hearing decision was nine months. The median time taken from receipt of a complaint or information indicating the need for an interim order referral to an interim order decision was 13 days.’
	The report is also available at:
	www.chre.org.uk/_img/pics/library/110623_Final_-_CHRE_ Performance_Review_report_2010-11_(Colour_for_web_-_PDF_version).pdf

Health Services: Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training his Department provides to enable NHS staff to recognise victims of human trafficking.

Anne Milton: The content and standard of health care training is generally the responsibility of the independent regulatory bodies. However, given the Government's commitment to tackle human trafficking and violence against women and children, the Department of Health is working with a third sector strategic partner to develop a training toolkit for health professionals with the aim of improving the health service response to victims of human trafficking. The toolkit will be finalised by December 2012.
	There is already guidance on related areas such as domestic and sexual violence, and the Department continues to work closely with professional bodies on improving the health service response to victims of violence.

Incinerators: Health Hazards

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the Health Protection Agency decided not to examine the effects on human health of incinerators in August 2003.

Anne Milton: Since the Health Protection Agency (HPA) was formed in 2003, it has kept the literature on the health effects associated with emissions from incinerators under regular review. In 2005, the HPA published a position statement on the public health consequences of municipal solid waste incineration. Following developments in the literature in September 2009, the HPA published its updated position statement: The impact on health of emissions to air from municipal waste incinerators.
	http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733829068

Muscular Dystrophy

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how specialised neuromuscular services will be delivered under the new NHS Commissioning Board; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: As set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the Government's intention is that from April 2013 the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB) will directly commission specialised services that are currently commissioned at both national and regional level.
	Commissioning these services directly, through one national commissioner to a national standard will ensure consistency in planning and funding of specialised services for the benefit of patients with rare conditions.
	The Department is working with NHS colleagues who currently commission specialised services towards producing a list of services for direct commissioning by the Board. The final list of services will be subject to consultation with the Board and then will be captured in a set of regulations from the Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), to the Board.
	We are not at the stage where we can announce the final list. However, the list of services as currently set out in the Specialised Services National Definitions Set will form the solid basis for the services that the NHSCB will directly commission.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent of regional variation in the NHS provision of musculoskeletal services.

Paul Burstow: Assessment of the extent of variation in expenditure by primary care trust area on a number of musculoskeletal procedures is published in the NHS Atlas of Variation which is available at:
	www.rightcare.nhs.uk/index.php/nhs-atlas/atlas-downloads
	We are also aware of variations in the quality of provision of musculoskeletal services in the national health service, alongside many examples of good practice.
	We intend to hold the NHS to account, through the NHS Commissioning Board, for achieving sustained improvements in the quality of life of all patients with long-term conditions, and in outcomes relating to recovery from episodes of ill-health and injury. We are working in strategic partnership with the members of the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance to identify measures that will help accelerate improvement. In addition, there are many existing sources of guidance for commissioners and providers who wish to improve their musculoskeletal services, including clinical guidelines and other guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). We have asked NICE to develop quality standards for some of the major musculoskeletal conditions; so that patients and commissioners can have a clear view of the standards of care which the NHS should be aspiring to achieve.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the Long Term Conditions Outcomes Strategy will (a) address the needs and expected future needs of people with musculoskeletal conditions and (b) take into account demographic changes.

Paul Burstow: The Long Term Conditions Outcomes Strategy will be generic, rather than condition-specific. It will encourage service planners to conduct thorough assessments of present and future demand and to commission joined-up services/ meeting the holistic needs of people with long-term conditions. We recognise that demographic changes are leading to an increase in many types of long-term conditions, including musculoskeletal ones, and the strategy will describe a vision for how services can operate to meet these pressures.

NHS: Laboratories

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department has issued to NHS trusts on adopting the Health Protection Agency's recommended swab analysis procedure in NHS laboratories.

Anne Milton: The Department has not issued any guidelines of this nature and would not expect to do so. However the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has statutory authority to make recommendations directly and in public.
	There is insufficient information to identify the type of swabs to which the hon. Member refers. However, the Standards for Microbiology Investigations (SMIs) cover the processing of a variety of swabs.
	The HPA provides a secretarial function for United Kingdom SMIs. UK SMIs comprise a collection of recommended algorithms and procedures covering all stages of the investigative process in microbiology The SMIs are produced with the involvement of microbiological professional organisations and societies and undergo peer review.

Nurses

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider the effect of patient numbers on nurses' ability to give high quality care; and if he will make it his policy that the patient to nurse ratio should decrease.

Anne Milton: It would not be appropriate to mandate patient to nurse ratios. Decisions about staff to patient ratios are best made by local clinicians and managers, and will vary according to the individual needs of patients.
	There is guidance available to trusts to assist them in setting safe staffing levels. For example the Royal College of Nursing guidance and Safer Nursing Care Tool developed by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.
	The Care Quality Commission (CQC) requires registered providers to take appropriate steps to ensure that, at all times, there are sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced persons employed for the purpose of carrying on the regulated activity. The CQC guidance about compliance, references guidance set out by, for example, professional bodies.

Psoriasis

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the proportion of patients suffering from severe psoriasis who have received a psoriasis area and severity index assessment.

Paul Burstow: The Department does not collect data on the numbers of people with severe psoriasis who have received a psoriasis area and severity index assessment.

Social Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to reform social care in the 2012-13 Session.

Paul Burstow: The Government plans to publish a draft Bill shortly, for pre-legislative scrutiny in this Session. This is the first comprehensive reform of social care law in over 60 years and is a unique opportunity to modernise the legal framework. That is why we will carry out pre-legislative scrutiny on the Bill, to give those with experience and expertise in care and support the opportunity to influence and shape the proposed legislation. We remain committed to introducing legislation at the earliest opportunity to establish a sustainable legal framework for adult social care.

Thalidomide

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to decide whether financial support for people affected by Thalidomide will continue beyond the three year pilot scheme; and when he plans to release the details of any such further support.

Paul Burstow: The Thalidomide Grant is a three-year pilot, running from April 2010 until March 2013, to explore how the health needs of Thalidomide survivors can best be met in the longer term and how such a scheme might be applied to other small groups of geographically dispersed patients with specialised needs.
	Departmental officials met with members of the National Advisory Council to the Thalidomide Trust in June 2011, to discuss their evaluation of the first year. Further meetings will be held to discuss years two and three and we will consider the future of the grant further into the pilot.
	This corrects my written answers to the hon. Member for Midlothian (Mr Hamilton) on 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 359W, and the hon. Member for Belfast East (Naomi Long) on 24 April 2012, Official Report, column 875W, in which I stated that officials last met the trust in June 2010. I regret these errors.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Deportation

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many refused asylum seekers have been returned to (a) Zimbabwe, (b) Iran, (c) Iraq and (d) Somalia annually since January 2010.

Damian Green: The following table shows the total number of asylum cases removed or voluntarily departed to Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Zimbabwe from the UK in 2010 and 2011.
	
		
			 Removals and voluntary departures(1, 2, 3) of asylum cases to Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Zimbabwe(4), January 2010 to December 2011 
			 Total asylum cases removed or voluntarily departed to: 2010(5) 2011(5) 
			 Iran 129 126 
			 Iraq 537 332 
			 Somalia 10 10 
			 Zimbabwe 231 132 
			 (1) Includes enforced removals, people departing voluntarily after notifying the UK Border Agency of their intention to leave prior to their departure, people leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by Refugee Action (prior to April 2011, run by the International Organisation for Migration) and people who it has been established left without informing the immigration authorities. (2) Figures include dependants. (3) Removals and voluntary departures recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (4) Destination as recorded on source database. (5) Provisional figures. Figures will under record due to data cleansing and data matching exercises that take place after the extracts are taken. 
		
	
	It is not possible within these figures to say what stage in the asylum process these people have reached at the time of their removal, including whether their claim was refused at that point, because those departing voluntarily can do so at any stage without necessarily notifying the UK Border Agency.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK within 'Immigration Statistics'. The data on removals and voluntary departures by country of destination is available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics:
	January-March 2012, tables rv.06 and rv.06.q, from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Bigamy

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's policy is on bigamous marriage in respect of applications for leave to enter or remain.

Damian Green: If a person is applying for leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom on the basis of their marriage, that marriage needs to be valid in UK law.
	A person cannot rely on a bigamous relationship that is not valid in UK law to support their application. If he or she has acted illegally in contracting a second marriage, the UK Border Agency may refer the case for prosecution.

Crown Prosecution Service

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she made of the annual savings which would be achieved by the police if Crown Prosecution Service and police staff were co-located in York prior to the opening of Athena House in York; and what estimate she has made of such savings made by the police in each year since Athena House was opened.

Nick Herbert: None. Decisions about the most effective use of available resources, including where staff should be located, are rightly a matter for the Chief Constable and Police Authority locally.

Driving Offences: Insurance

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were arrested on suspicion of making fraudulent insurance claims in (a) 1997, (b) 2002 and (c) 2011.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 13 June 2012
	The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.

Entry Clearances: Higher Education

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the likely effect of changes to the regulations for Tier 2 visas on the number of foreign academics wishing to work at UK higher education institutions who specialise in teaching STEM subjects; and what assessment she has made of the potential economic benefits of such changes.

Damian Green: No academics have been excluded as a result of Tier 2 changes. Foreign academics have the requisite skills and salary levels to qualify for Tier 2.
	The annual limit for Tier 2 has been undersubscribed and, even if the limit was reached, academics are given high priority when allocating places.
	From 14 June we are making changes to the operation of the Resident Labour Market Test to better fit higher education recruitment practices, and to allow higher education institutions to select the best candidate for the role, regardless of whether they are a resident or migrant worker.
	In addition to these generous provisions in Tier 2, academics who are world leaders in their field can apply in the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route. There are also further provisions for sponsored researchers in Tier 5.
	The Government have made clear that it is committed to attracting the brightest and the best migrants and have had no representations from the sector about negative impacts.
	Full impact assessments for Tier 2 changes have been published on the Home Office website and I have placed copies in the Library of the House.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Tier 4 visas have been rejected on the basis of not meeting English language requirements (a) prior to and (b) after 21 April 2011.

Damian Green: Refusals of visas for not meeting the English language requirement are only collated for settlement visas.
	Since April 2012, a Tier 4 applicant to a privately funded college has been required to provide an English language test certificate as evidence of English ability. During the financial year 2011-12, approximately 15% (39,454) of Tier 4 visas were refused; the reasons for refusal are not collated.
	For Tier 4, it is the responsibility of the sponsor (college) to assess the English language level of the student. The sponsor must clearly state on the sponsor management system when they assign the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) how they have assessed the English language level.

Health Insurance

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff working in her Department are entitled to private health care as part of their remuneration package.

Damian Green: No officials in the Home Office or its agencies (UK Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau) are provided with private health insurance as part of their employment package.

Immigration

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will undertake an assessment of the effects of immigration at regional level in the United Kingdom.

Damian Green: No assessment has been made of the impacts of migration at the regional level. The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published an analysis of the impacts of migration on 10 January. I have placed a copy of the MAC's report in the Library of the House. The report and accompanying research are also available on the Home Office website at:
	www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk
	The Home Office is currently undertaking research to build a picture of the local impacts of non-EEA migration to the UK. The resulting data will enable an assessment of the impact of migration on public services, such as social housing, at the regional level. The research will be published in 2013.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: Security

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the suitability of Close Protection UK to provide security services at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

James Brokenshire: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 13 June 2012, Official Report, column 481W.

Pay

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Rob Whiteman received a bonus in 2011-12; and what the value of any such bonus was.

Damian Green: Rob Whiteman has been employed as chief executive of the UK Border Agency since September 2011. He did not receive any bonuses during the 2011-12 financial year. Bonus awards for Home Office Board members, including Rob Whiteman, for the 2011-12 performance year have not yet been considered.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to promote awareness of the elections for police and crime commissioners.

Nick Herbert: The election of 41 police and crime commissioners (PCCs) on 15 November is at the heart of this Government's commitment to bringing local accountability to policing and giving the public a say in how crime is tackled in their area. This is why the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 requires the Electoral Commission to take steps to raise public awareness of the election and how to vote in it. Home Office Ministers and the Home Office, working with our partners in policing, will support this awareness-raising by undertaking a range of activity, through various media, to explain the purpose and role of PCCs to the public.

Race Relations: EU Action

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the UK has fully implemented EU Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA; and what assessment her Department has made of its effectiveness in combating racism and xenophobia.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government fully comply with the provisions of the Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia through the use of existing domestic legislation and common law.
	Although the UK has no specific criminal offences of publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising crimes of genocide; crimes against humanity; war crimes; and crimes against peace (as required in Article 1 (1) (c) and (d) of the Framework Decision), conduct of this type carried out in a manner likely to incite violence or hatred would be covered by existing offences.
	While no formal assessment of the framework's effectiveness has been undertaken, post-legislative scrutiny of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act was undertaken and is available from the Vote Office and at:
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm81/8164/8164.pdf

Stop and Search

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers and senior police officers on the use of section 60 notices under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 11 June 2012
	Home Office officials discuss these issues with the Association of Chief Police Officers regularly.

Terrorism: EU Action

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes to UK anti-terrorism laws resulted from EU Council Framework Decision 2008/919/JHA.

James Brokenshire: The UK has a comprehensive range of terrorism offences. No changes have been made following the EU Council Framework Decision 2008/919/JHA.

UK Border Agency

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what indices the UK Border Agency has used to calculate annual resource budget uplifts for each of its contracts with the private sector in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: There are a number of different indices that can be included in UK Border Agency contracts to calculate annual resource budget uplifts, for example the RPIX (RPI minus mortgage interest payments). The indices used vary on a contract by contract basis and are dependant on the service being provided as well as the market, among other factors.
	The UK Border Agency is unable to specifically outline, contract by contract, the indices used in each of its contracts for the past five years as this information is not centrally held. To provide this information would require a manual search of each of our contracts, and this would incur disproportionate cost.

UK Border Agency

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the criteria for UK Border Agency staff bonuses include rewards for the number of failed asylum seekers sent back to their country of origin.

Damian Green: holding answer 13 June 2012
	Bonuses are awarded to a maximum of 35% of staff, whose performance has significantly exceeded that which was set out in their individual objectives. Performance is measured against both the objectives, competencies and personal development needs required for the role. Each staff member's objectives would have been agreed with their line manager at the start of the performance year at a local level in a personal development review plan. The Home Office does not hold centrally any information on objectives.

Work Permits: Balkans

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the waiting times for Bulgarian and Romanian students applying for work permits in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009, (d) 2010, (e) 2011 and (f) 2012 to date.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency aims to decide 95% of Bulgarian and Romanian student work permit applications within six months of receipt. This has been achieved for each year since 2007 to date.

TREASURY

Business: Finance

Simon Kirby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made on the introduction of the Business Finance Partnership.

Mark Hoban: The Business Finance Partnership relies on negotiating co-investment from private sector investors to maximise the impact of the £1.2 billion allocated to the scheme by securing additional matching funds. All the money allocated to the scheme is currently in the process of being invested and it is expected that these investments will be finalised by the end of the year.
	In particular, as announced at Budget 2012, the Government have decided to invest up to £700 million in a shortlist of up to seven funds that lend to mid-sized companies. Due diligence and commercial negotiations on these potential investments are expected to complete by late summer. On 31 May 2012, two requests for proposals were published, one requesting proposals for investing a further £400 million in funds that lend to mid-sized businesses and a second requesting proposals for investing £100 million in non-traditional lending channels that can reach small businesses. These requests close on 20 July 2012, and subject to due diligence and commercial negotiations the related investments are expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 304W, on Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats, when he plans to publish a summary of responses.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 304W.

Corporation Tax

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the 1,000 largest companies paid no corporation tax in each year since 2005; and how many such companies paid (a) less than £10 million and (b) between £10 and £20 million in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: There is not an accepted methodology HMRC could use to identify the 1,000 largest companies. Additionally, in most cases, large firms will operate through a group structure comprising of many companies.
	Information on the amount of corporation tax payable and the number of companies by the size of their liability is available in table 11.6 of HMRC's National Statistics which can be found at the following internet address.
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate_tax/ct-menu.htm

Corporation Tax

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average rate of corporation tax paid by (a) FTSE 100 companies and (b) companies with profits greater than £1,500,000 was in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11.

David Gauke: In 2009-10 and 2010-11, taxable profits were subject to either the main rate of 28% or the small profits rate of 21%. Companies with taxable profits between £300,000 and £1.5 million would have received marginal rate relief.

Credit Unions

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect on credit unions of erroneous claims for mis-selling of payment protection insurance. [R]

Mark Hoban: There has not been a significant effect regarding mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI), or erroneous claims for mis-selling of PPI, on the credit unions sector. Only a minority of credit unions were involved in PPI due to the generally small size of credit unions and small size of loans issued.
	The Government supports the work that the Financial Services Authority, the Competition Commission, the Financial Ombudsman Service, and the Office of Fair Trading are undertaking to recompense customers who have been mis-sold policies, and to prevent cases of mis-selling in the future.

Equitable Life

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2012, Official Report, columns 297-98W, on the Equitable Life Payment Scheme, how frequently (a) he, (b) his special advisers and (c) officials in his Department receive progress reports on the Equitable Life Payment Scheme.

Mark Hoban: The Treasury receives regular updates from the Equitable Life Payment Scheme, and these will form the basis of the progress report due to be published in the summer.

EU Budget

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of converting the UK's contribution to the European Union from pounds to euros.

Mark Hoban: All UK contributions to the EU budget are paid in sterling.

EU Budget

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government take to mitigate the potential currency gain or loss from converting the UK's contribution to the EU budget and receiving funds from the EU.

Mark Hoban: All UK contributions to the annual EU budget are paid in sterling. Receipts from the EU budget are converted from euro to sterling at an exchange rate prevailing at the time the transaction is due to take place. The Government do not have a central exchange rate risk mitigation mechanism with respect to receipts from the EU budget but Government Departments and agencies that receive EU funds may choose to make individual exchange rate risk mitigation arrangements.

Gambling

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the consultation on offshore gambling will commence.

Chloe Smith: The consultation “Taxing remote gambling on a place of consumption basis: consultation on policy design” was published on 5 April. The consultation closes on 28 June 2012.
	The consultation document is accessible on the HM Treasury website:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consult_tax_remote_ gambling_consumption_basis.htm

Personal Savings

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to create a savings culture in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The Government's savings strategy is based on the principles of freedom, fairness and responsibility, so that it meets the needs of consumers while remaining effective and affordable. In particular, the Government aim to encourage more lower and middle income households to start saving and to save more, especially for the long term and retirement.
	The Government have taken steps to support existing savers and encourage new savers, including:
	1. Promoting choice by providing flexibility to consumers in a competitive market. This Government introduced the Junior ISA, removed the effective requirement to annuitise at age 75, and announced at Budget 2012 that the Government will work with industry to improve competitiveness and transparency in the ISA market, including encouraging industry to make use of the technological advances in how information and funds can be transferred to bring further reductions in the time taken to transfer a cash ISA between providers. The Government also welcomes and strongly supports the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) recommendations to make it easier for personal customers, small businesses and charities to switch their bank account. The Government is clear that the new switching proposals need to be fully implemented by the industry by September 2013 and will monitor progress closely through quarterly interim reports.
	2. Promoting fairness in incentives to save by introducing automatic enrolment of employees into a pension scheme from October 2012, reforming the way pensions tax relief is restricted and indexing ISA contribution limits to inflation.
	3. Promoting personal responsibility within the saving, debt and protection system so individuals are equipped to exercise effective choice and plan for expected and unexpected events. This Government has introduced the Money Advice Service, which amongst other services provides a free financial ‘health check’; asked an independent steering group to devise a suite of simple financial products to help increase the number of new participants in savings and protection insurance markets by providing straightforward, easy to understand products; and worked with industry and consumer groups to establish a ‘default’ open market option, which requires retirees to make an active choice about their provider and the shape of their annuity.

Procurement

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total (a) number and (b) value of contracts issued by (i) his Department and (ii) bodies for which he is responsible which were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chloe Smith: HM Treasury's spend with small and medium-sized enterprises has been reported in the Cabinet Office report, “Making Government business more accessible to SMEs—One Year On”, which is available online at:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/making-government-business-more-accessible-smes-one-year

Public Sector: Pay

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many public sector workers are being paid off-payroll in (a) the NHS, (b) non-maintained schools and (c) publicly-owned banks; and if he will publish the details of any such arrangements;
	(2)  with reference to his review of the tax arrangements of public sector appointees, how much has been spent on legal fees relating to the review; how much the review cost; how many staff in his Department were allocated to the review; how many deals he considers are too expensive to unwind; and if he will publish all exemptions to the rules and the reasons for them.

Danny Alexander: On 23 May, Official Report, columns 1159-61, I announced the findings of the ‘Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees’. This set out the extent of senior off payroll engagements across Government—and made recommendations to ensure that Government employers can assure themselves that their senior off payroll staff are meeting their tax obligations.
	The review collected information in relation to off payroll engagements that cost the Government more than £58,200 per annum—the senior civil service pay minimum—in central Government Departments and their arm's length bodies. The review did not collect information in relation to non-senior staff engaged off payroll in any public sector organisation. The publicly owned banks were outside the scope of the review, as I set out on 14 May 2012, Official Report, column 44W.
	The review was financed from within existing Treasury and departmental budgets—and no estimate of the overall cost of the review has been made. The review was led by officials in the Treasury's Public Spending Group, supported by officials from across the Treasury, Cabinet Office, HMRC and other Government Departments. No external legal advice was sought by the Treasury as part of the review.
	The review's recommendations will be applied to existing contracts, subject to ensuring value for money for the taxpayer. As Departments are currently taking forward these recommendations, it is not yet possible to estimate the number of contracts that will be unwound as a result of the review. However, Departments will report to Parliament on the outcome as part of the 2012-13 annual report and accounts process.

Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on recruitment, to what extent his Department and its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies used name-blank CVs or the blind sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system to recruit staff in the last year.

Chloe Smith: Neither name blank CVs nor the blind sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system are used by HM Treasury, its non-departmental public bodies or agencies.

Tax Allowances: Charities

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 30 April 2012, Official Report, column 1203W, on tax allowances: charities, what procedure is used by HM Revenue and Customs to recognise organisations as charitable organisations for tax purposes.

David Gauke: Charities and other organisations seeking recognition by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of their entitlement to UK charity reliefs need to fill in a charity application form (ChA1). HMRC checks the details on the form and, if satisfied that the organisation is entitled to UK charity tax reliefs, issues a charity reference number.
	Detailed guidance on the process is available on the HMRC website:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/tax/recognition.htm
	The definition of a charity for tax purposes is set out in part 1 of schedule 1 of Finance Act 2010.

Taxation: Multinational Companies

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of reforms to the controlled foreign companies regime on developed countries;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the value of revenue from corporation tax forgone under the changes to the controlled foreign companies regime;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of revenue expected to accrue to the Exchequer from companies returning to the UK as a result of reforms to the controlled foreign companies regime;
	(4)  what the changes are to modelling and data referred to on page 14 of the Budget 2012 Policy Costings document, which made a difference to the costing of reforms to the controlled foreign companies reforms between Budget 2011 and Budget 2012.

David Gauke: The Government have not undertaken an assessment of the effect on other countries of the proposed changes to the controlled foreign companies (CFC) rules as these rules are designed to protect the UK Exchequer by preventing artificial diversion of UK profits.
	Such an impact assessment would need to focus primarily on the nature of tax regimes in other countries and the interactions of multinational companies with those tax systems, making it an assessment not of our tax rules, but of the tax rules of those other countries. The Government do not think that such an assessment would be feasible.
	The cost of changes to the controlled foreign companies (CFC) rules were set out in table 2.1 and 2.2 of Budget 2012. The total cost of £910 million in 2018-19 is detailed in the 2012 Policy Costings Document available on the HM Treasury website.
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_chapter2.pdf
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_policy_costings.pdf
	The costings for the reforms to the controlled foreign companies (CFC) rules did not include any assessment of the Exchequer impact of groups returning to the UK.
	The changes to modelling and data referred to on page 14 of the “Budget 2012 Policy Costings” document reflect further analytical work undertaken since Budget 2011 and changes to the detailed policy design. As there is no precise way to separate these impacts they are presented together.

VAT: Listed Buildings

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the levying of VAT on approved alterations on the upkeep of listed buildings.

David Gauke: An assessment of the impact of levying VAT on approved alterations to listed buildings was set out in the consultation document ‘VAT: Addressing borderline anomalies’ published at the time of the Budget. An updated assessment will be published as part of the Government's response to the consultation.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Biofuels

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) designed output and (b) average load factor is of each bio-mass power station in the UK; and how many megawatts of electricity were produced from bio-mass in 2011.

Gregory Barker: Provisional 2011 data for the designed output (installed capacity), load factors and electricity generation for biomass power plant, are given in the following table. Final figures for 2011 will be published on 28 June 2012.
	
		
			  Installed capacity (as at 31 December 2011) (MW) Generation (GWh) Load factor (percentage) 
			 Landfill gas 1,062 5,345 58.5 
			 Sewage sludge digestion 203 755 43.9 
			 Biodegradable municipal solid waste combustion 504 1,732 42.1 
			 Animal Biomass 161 756 57.6 
			 Plant Biomass 1,074 1,626 26.8 
			 Biomass co-fired in fossil fuel power stations n/a 3,061 n/a 
		
	
	Capacity is not given for biomass co-fired in fossil fuel power stations, as this is not dedicated biomass capacity. A load factor can also therefore not be calculated. However, in 2011, the part of fossil fuel installed capacity used for co-firing was provisionally estimated as 349 MW.
	Data from table ET 6.1 of Energy Trends, available at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/source/renewables/renewables.aspx

Carbon Emissions

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether low carbon generation projects which make final investment decisions before the contract for difference mechanism becomes law will be eligible for a contract under the scheme.

Charles Hendry: The electricity market reform White Paper of July 2011 set out the Government's commitment to work actively with relevant developers to enable early investment decisions to progress to timetable wherever possible, including those required ahead of implementation of the feed-in tariff with Contracts for Difference (CfD).
	The draft Energy Bill contains a number of provisions which would enable the Government to issue what are called “investment instruments” at an early stage in advance of the regime for CfDs being established. These instruments would be broadly similar to CfDs and the provisions in the Bill permit the Secretary of State to issue them on terms and conditions he considers are appropriate. What is actually offered (if at all) in relation to projects will depend on the projects that come forward and the outcome of any engagement.

Carbon Emissions: Shipping

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects emissions from the shipping industry to be included in the UK carbon budget; and what recent discussions on this matter he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport. [R]

Gregory Barker: Emissions from domestic shipping are already included within the UK's carbon budgets. International shipping emissions are not yet included with this framework; however, the Climate Change Act also requires the Government to consider whether to include these emissions this year. The CCC have provided us with advice on this issue and we are now working closely with the Department for Transport to consider the Government's response. The Government will respond to the report by end 2012 as required by section 30 of the Climate Change Act.

Coryton Oil Refinery

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has received any representations from the administrators of Coryton Oil Refinery in respect of the provision of state aid.

Charles Hendry: The administrators of Coryton Oil Refinery have contacted the Department on 15 May in respect of the provision of government assistance for the refinery. These representations are necessarily commercially confidential.

Coryton Oil Refinery

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the implications for (a) the security of UK fuel supply and (b) UK energy resilience of the potential closure of Coryton Oil Refinery; and if he will place in the Library a copy of any such assessment.

Charles Hendry: The Department has assessed the implications for (a) the security of UK fuel supply and (b) UK energy resilience of the potential closure of Coryton Oil Refinery. As part of this process the Department has been in close contact with fuel suppliers who use Coryton. London and South-East England are served by a number of supply points and suppliers have plans in place to maintain their fuel supply operations in the event of the closure of the refinery. There is a healthy, global market with supplier diversity for refined product, and the UK has a further seven operational refineries. Consequently, there are no significant risks to security of fuel supply or energy resilience should refining activity stop at Coryton.

Energy Supply

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans his Department has to continuously match supply and demand in the grid.

Charles Hendry: National Grid, as the National Electricity Transmission System Operator, is responsible for ensuring electricity supply and demand are balanced in real time.
	The electricity market reform White Paper recognised there will be new challenges to the balancing of supply and demand of electricity in future as a result of changes to the generation mix and demand profiles as we decarbonise. We intend to publish a document this summer which will make an assessment of the future challenges to the electricity system and highlight areas where Government action may be required.

Energy: Coventry

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the average proportion of household expenditure on energy bills in (a) Coventry and (b) Coventry North East constituency in each of the last five years.

Charles Hendry: Data on spend on energy bills is available from the Living Costs and Food Survey, run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The following table shows the average weekly spend on electricity, gas and other fuels for households in the West Midlands, along with the proportion of total household expenditure that this accounts for. The data are shown as three-year averages because sample sizes are not sufficient to produce data for a single year. These averages cover the five-year period from 2006 to 2010, with data for 2008-10 being the latest available. Data are not available below regional level, so we are unable to provide figures by constituency.
	
		
			  Average weekly spend on fuel and power (£) As a proportion of total spend (%) 
			 2006-08 17.70 4.8 
			 2007-09 19.70 4.4 
			 2008-10 20.70 4.8

Fuel Poverty: Kent

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford, (b) Erith and Thamesmead and (c) Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency living in fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: In 2010, the last year for which data are available, the number of households in fuel poverty was estimated to be:
	(a) 4,100 in Bexleyheath and Crayford (12.5%);
	(b) 4,100 in Erith and Thamesmead (10.2%);
	(c) 4,000 in Old Bexley and Sidcup (12.3%).

Fuel Poverty: West Midlands

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the number of households living in fuel poverty in (a) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Gregory Barker: The following table shows the number of households living in fuel poverty by parliamentary constituency, local authority and region, for the latest available year, 2010.
	
		
			 Area Fuel poor households (Thousand) Percentage living in fuel poverty (%) 
			 Birmingham, Ladywood constituency 10.8 23.4 
			 Birmingham, local authority 93.3 23.3 
			 West Midlands, region 484.9 21.6

Heating

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the rate of return on capital is for combined heat and power and district heating schemes.

Gregory Barker: Various fuel types and technologies can be used for CHP and for district heating, at a number of different scales. Therefore, rates of return on capital are dependent on particular circumstances and vary considerably between different schemes. Following the publication of a Strategic Framework for Heat, officials in the Department are looking closely at barriers to the development of CHP and heat networks, including but not restricted to commercial and economic issues such as rates of return.

Heating

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to provide grants to fund feasibility studies for combined heat and power and district heating schemes in the remainder of the comprehensive spending review period.

Gregory Barker: We are currently working with a number of cities exploring the potential for low carbon heat networks to consider ways in which the Department can assist their development.

Heating

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will consider extending the Renewable Heat Incentive to waste heat from power stations.

Gregory Barker: The primary purpose of the RHI is to increase renewable heat generation in order to contribute to our legally binding EU 2020 renewable energy target as set out in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Heat rejected by power stations comes from fossil or nuclear fuels and is not classified as renewable under the RED.
	As set out in the strategic framework for low carbon heat, published in March, we are keen to promote the recovery and re-use of heat, including from power stations. In the strategy we undertook to consult on policy proposals by March 2013. We are investigating options to support this form of heating as part of these proposals.

Heating

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will consider reclassifying waste heat from power stations as a renewable resource where it reduces emissions of carbon dioxide by displacing gas burnt for heating.

Gregory Barker: Heat rejected from power stations comes from fossil or nuclear fuels so it is not classified as renewable under the Renewable Energy Directive.
	As set out in the strategic framework for low carbon heat, published in March, we are keen to promote the recovery and re-use of heat, including from power stations. In the strategy we undertook to consult on policy proposals by March 2013. We are investigating options to support this form of heating as part of these proposals.

Heating

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the contribution of combined heat and power and district heating to reductions in carbon emissions; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: As recorded in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2011, combined heat and power (CHP) reduced carbon emissions by 13 million tonnes of CO2 in 2010 when compared against electricity generated from fossil fuels. CHP saved 9.3 million tonnes CO2 when compared to all fuels, including renewables and nuclear.
	These figures include district heating schemes that are connected to CHP plants. We currently do not have data on district heating schemes fuelled from non-CHP sources.

Nuclear Power Stations

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will publish any evidence used to determine the strike price that new nuclear power stations will receive under the contract for difference support mechanism.

Charles Hendry: There will be full transparency over the terms agreed following the negotiation of nuclear generation contracts. However, as set out in the draft Energy Bill 2012, the Secretary of State may not disclose information that consists of trade secrets or sensitive commercial information, unless the person to whom the information relates consents to the disclosures.

Nuclear Power Stations

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  whether strike prices for new nuclear power stations will be negotiated on a site-by-site basis;
	(2)  how contract for difference strike prices for new nuclear power stations will be determined.

Charles Hendry: The draft operational framework for the proposed feed-in tariff with contracts for difference (published as Annex B to the draft Energy Bill 2012) states that, for nuclear ¦projects, the level of the strike price will be determined through an administrative price setting process until the conditions are in place to move to competitive forms of price discovery. To begin with, under FID enabling, this process will involve negotiation with developers on a project by project basis.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Ministerial Meetings

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport which newspaper proprietors he has met since the start of the Leveson Inquiry.

Jeremy Hunt: Each Cabinet Minister publishes a list of meetings on a quarterly basis. These are available on the Cabinet Office website.

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what the total monetary value is of each contract between his Department and Atos.

John Penrose: The Department currently has two contracts with Atos. The first is for a managed ICT service which is approximately valued at £25 million. The second is for technical advice in relation to the Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) which is valued at approximately £1.2 million.

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

John Penrose: The Department currently has two contracts with Atos. The first is for a managed ICT service which was (a) agreed on 1 December 2007. It has not been renewed or extended as the contract runs until 1 December 2014.
	The .second contract is for technical advice in relation to the Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) which was agreed on 15 March 2012. It has not been renewed or extended.

Adam Smith

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether Adam Smith received any severance package upon resigning from his Department; whether Adam Smith received any payment in lieu of notice; and if he will place in the Library details of any such severance package.

Jeremy Hunt: Adam Smith received his contractual monthly salary for April. Contractual payments were made in line with the terms of his employment, namely five weeks' notice in lieu and outstanding annual leave. No further payments have been made.

Adam Smith

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library the clear requirements, referred to in his Department's statement of 26 April 2012, that were set out for Adam Smith to follow in his contact with News Corporation for the News Corporation bid for BSkyB; and what arrangements were made to ensure compliance with such requirements;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of each document relating to the authorisation of Adam Smith as a point of contact with News Corporation for the News Corporation bid for BSkyB.

Jeremy Hunt: All legal and policy advice on my Department's handling of News Corporation's bid for the remaining shares in BSkyB and records of meetings at which this was discussed, was contained in the evidence I submitted to the Leveson inquiry, which I have now placed in the House Library.

Adam Smith

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether his Department's Permanent Secretary gave prior authorisation for Adam Smith to act as a contact point for the News Corporation bid for BSkyB.

Jeremy Hunt: In his statement to the Leveson inquiry, the Permanent Secretary said that he approved of and helped establish the process to support my decision-making, which included a role for Adam Smith, which he saw as a normal and acceptable part of such a decision-making process.
	I will arrange for a copy of this statement and its supporting evidence to be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

British Sky Broadcasting: News Corporation

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what legal advice not to meet representatives of News Corporation he received and from whom in November 2010; and what involvement his Department's Permanent Secretary had in this advice.

Jeremy Hunt: All legal and policy advice put to me on this subject by officials, is part of the package of evidence I submitted to the Leveson inquiry, which I have now also placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

British Sky Broadcasting: News Corporation

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether he sought any advice from his Department's Permanent Secretary on taking responsibility for the decision on the News Corporation bid for BSkyB; and what such advice he received.

Jeremy Hunt: As I explained when I appeared at the Leveson inquiry on 31 May2012, I received legal and policy advice from officials when I took responsibility for News Corporation's bid for the remaining shares in BSkyB. My Permanent Secretary was involved in this process and has also provided evidence to the inquiry. I have deposited all the written evidence that I submitted to the Leveson inquiry in the Libraries of both Houses.
	A copy of the statement given to the inquiry by the Permanent Secretary, along with its supporting evidence, will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

Diamond Jubilee 2012

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the Diamond Jubilee celebration.

Hugh Robertson: The national events that took place over the four-day Jubilee Weekend in London, were funded by the organisers, and through individual donations and corporate partnerships. Costs for elements of support and coordination falling to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including certain stewarding and temporary structures built for the public and media, are still being finalised.

Digital Technology

Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which the principles of digital inclusion are taken into account by his Department's website.

Edward Vaizey: The Department is constantly striving to ensure that its website offers a fully inclusive experience for all visitors. We ensure the website is compliant to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) priority 1 and 2 (AA standard), adheres to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines and follows recommendations set out by the Government Digital Service. This includes providing users with guidance on how to make the website more accessible for them, through changing browser settings and font sizes. Our accessibility page has more information:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/accessibility.aspx
	We test our site using screen readers, automated validation tools and by manual checks. During major site redesigns we have also undertaken accessibility testing with users from a spectrum of disabilities—visual, cognitive and motor. We look to reflect and promote best practice, including the ‘10 principles of inclusive web design’:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/telecommunications_and_online/8161.aspx
	across our site and our social media channels, and we aim to subtitle the majority of our video content.

Food: Advertising

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will estimate the amount spent by the private sector on advertising foodstuffs to (a) children and (b) adults in each of the last five years.

Edward Vaizey: The Department has made no estimate. However, according to the latest industry data, the total spend on food advertising in the last five years was as follows:
	
		
			  Total spend on food advertising 
			 2007 404,024,262 
			 2008 725,129,654 
			 2009 700,985,884 
			 2010 841,265,230 
			 2011 819,758,591 
			 Source: Nielson: http://www.nielsen.com/uk/en.html

Health Insurance

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many staff in his Department are entitled to private health care as part of their remuneration package.

John Penrose: There are no officials in the Department that have private healthcare funded as part of their employment terms and conditions.

Leveson Inquiry

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what representations he has received from media groups since the start of the Leveson Inquiry.

Jeremy Hunt: Each Cabinet Minister publishes a list of meetings, including those with the media, on a quarterly basis. These are available on the Cabinet Office website. My Department regularly receives representations from media groups in the normal course of business.

Leveson Inquiry

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what the cost to the public purse of the Leveson Inquiry has been to date; and what estimate he has made of its total projected cost.

Jeremy Hunt: The cost of the Leveson Inquiry to the public purse to date is about £3.2 million, which represents payments made. The total cost for Part 1 of the Leveson Inquiry from start-up in July 2011 is currently projected to be about £5.6 million.

Listed Buildings

Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effect on heritage of the decision to remove VAT relief for restoration and maintenance works to listed buildings; and if he will make a statement.

John Penrose: The Department has encouraged its stakeholders and arms' length bodies to identify the impact of this change and respond directly to HM Revenue and Custom's consultation. We will be extending the assistance provided by the Listed Places of Worship Scheme to ensure that alterations to listed places of worship receive additional support.

Misleading Advertising

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in dealing with misleading advertising; whether the ASA verifies that companies comply with its rulings; how many companies were subject to more than one ruling by ASA in the last 12 months; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of ASA rulings in dealing with misleading claims in advertising by (a) Nestle and (b) Ferrero.

Edward Vaizey: No assessment has been made. The matters raised are operational ones for the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which is independent of Government.
	Accordingly, my officials spoke to the ASA, who advised that in 2011 they handled 19,510 complaints about misleading advertising across all sectors and 31,458 complaints overall. As a result of their action, 4,591 ad campaigns were amended or withdrawn in 2011.
	The ASA requires assurances from advertisers subject to adjudication that they will comply with its rulings, and the ASA will take compliance action should such assurances not be received.
	Some 330 advertisers have been subject to more than one upheld ASA adjudication over the past 12 months. Approximately two-thirds of these were subject to just two rulings. However, the ASA has noted that multiple rulings are not a direct corollary of non-compliance but, rather, reflects the amount of advertising produced by large advertisers.
	The ASA's monitoring team undertakes a significant amount of ongoing work monitoring the effectiveness of the rules, including, since 2007, three proactive monitoring surveys of the food and soft drink sector. Their 2009 food and soft drink advertising survey revealed an overall compliance rate with the rules of 99.4%.

Olympic Games 2012

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what consideration he has given to using UK-built vehicles for official use during the London 2012 Olympics.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has given no such consideration. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is the private company responsible for staging the London 2012 games. LOCOG appointed BMW as the automotive partner for the games back in 2009, and is working on the details of the 4,000 cars required for its fleet, including low-emission, diesel, hybrid and electric cars. LOCOG also procured c1,600 buses and coaches in early 2010, which will be provided by a range of companies across the UK.

Olympic Games 2012

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what training his Department provides to enable its staff involved with the London 2012 Olympics to recognise victims of human trafficking.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is not providing training for its staff working on the Games to recognise victims of human trafficking, as DCMS staff will not have frontline Games-time operational responsibilities for this issue. Personnel who are involved in combating trafficking, such as police officers, are provided with training and awareness material as part of core policing business.
	To date, DCMS is not aware of any evidence of an increase in human trafficking as a result of the Games. However, the Government remains vigilant, and has measures in place to deal with any potential increase.

Radio Frequencies

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent progress he has made on the auction of 4G spectrum; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The matter raised is an operational one for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Accordingly, my officials have spoken to Ofcom, who have advised that they will issue a statement in the summer.

Tourism: North Yorkshire

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps VisitBritain and VisitEngland are taking to promote tourism in (a) East Cleveland and (b) the North York Moors.

John Penrose: The Department sponsors VisitBritain, which is charged with promoting Britain overseas, and VisitEngland, which is responsible for promoting England within the UK and to selected overseas markets. Funding is based on tourism destinations rather than apportioned on a regional basis, but is intended to ensure that tourism assets and destinations receive coverage in national marketing campaigns.
	The Government also recently announced a major initiative to support both international and domestic tourism promotion. Including money from the GREAT campaign and private sector support, VisitBritain is investing over £120 million in an international marketing programme. Over the next four years, this is expected to deliver 4.6 million extra visitors from overseas, £2.27 billion in extra visitor spend and over 50,000 job opportunities. VisitEngland's domestic tourism campaign is supported by a £5 million investment from the Olympic budget and is expected to deliver up to 12,500 new job opportunities and £500 million in extra visitor spend over four years. This promotion includes an invitation to the industry to join up in a 20.12% discount or special offer incentive for consumers.
	In addition, the Regional Growth Fund Project, ‘Growing Tourism Locally’, which is managed and co-ordinated by the National Tourist Board, VisitEngland, aims to stimulate increased visitor spend across England, particularly in areas that are facing challenging economic times, but which have tourism growth potential. VisitEngland is also working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Natural England on rural economic growth, in particular, opportunities made available for tourism through the Rural Development Programme for England.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

Alan Duncan: DFID has four centrally awarded contracts in place with Atos, including two Framework Agreements.
	Details of the contracts, including title, type and start/end dates are as follows. No decision to extend these contracts has been taken at this time.
	
		
			 Contract title Contract start date Contract end date 
			 Safety and Access to Justice Programme 14 March 2010 13 March 2014 
			 Federal Public Administration Reform Programme in Nigeria 24 January 2011 24 January 2016 
			 Fragile and Conflict Affected States Framework Agreement 1 February 2012 31 January 2014 
			 Governance and Security Framework Agreement 1 March 2012 28 February 2014

Developing Countries: Water

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what programmes and projects his Department funds which support the provision of clean water and sanitation in developing countries.

Stephen O'Brien: Full details of the Department for International Development's (DFID's) current water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) portfolio are available from the WaSH Portfolio Review on the DFID website:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Site-search/?g=wash+portfolio+review
	DFID is implementing nine major WaSH bilateral programmes in Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Sierra Leone) and four in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Vietnam). We also contribute to the results achieved by multilateral organisations including the European Commission, the World Bank, Unicef and the African Development Bank.
	At the Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting in Washington on 20 April 2012, the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), announced that the UK has doubled its results ambition for the number of people we will reach with WaSH programmes and committed to reach at least 60 million people by 2015. Details of how we will deliver the scaled-up ambition are under development.

Mexico

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will take steps to ensure that aid to Clean Technology Fund projects in Mexico is directed towards generating affordable, renewable energy for the indigenous population.

Stephen O'Brien: The UK Government support the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and sits on the Trust Fund Committee which reviews country-owned investment plans and projects. The UK has been instrumental in ensuring that the CTF meets both climate and development objectives, providing broader benefits for local populations. This includes poverty alleviation, access to renewable energy, improved air and water quality, and local industrial development potential.
	Mexico's investment plan was endorsed in 2009 by the CTF Committee. It supports the low-carbon objectives in the country's 2007-12 National Development Plan, its National Climate Change Strategy and Special Climate Change Program. Projects have now also been approved and are being implemented.

Pay

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff working for his Department and its non-departmental public bodies are employed through off-payroll engagements costing less than £58,200 per annum; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: DFID recently conducted a comprehensive review of tax arrangements for public sector appointments in contract at 31 January 2012. This was a Government-wide review commissioned by Her Majesty's Treasury.
	DFID had 77 appointments off payroll at 31 January 2012 and at an annual cost to the Department of less than £58,200: 76 contracted through an employment agency or consultancy firm and one non-executive director.
	DFID will continue to review all non-payroll arrangements to ensure that all appointments meet their tax obligations and that the contractual arrangement is the most appropriate for the situation.

Pay

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department has taken to introduce regional pay since 20 March 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: DFID's pay freeze concludes this year. DFID, in line with the civil service pay guidance for 2012-13 issued by HM Treasury, will submit a three-year pay strategy to the Cabinet Office which, among other things, will explain how DFID is going to move to a more market-related pay structure.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) circulars and (b) consultation documents were issued by his Department in each of the last two years.

Alan Duncan: DFID has issued 12 consultations in the last two years:
	June 2010 to May 2011—nine consultations
	June 2011 to May 2012—three consultations
	There have been no circulars.

Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on recruitment, to what extent his Department and its non-departmental public body used name-blank CVs or the blind sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system to recruit staff in the last year.

Alan Duncan: DFID does not yet manage recruitment through the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system. DFID is currently in discussions with Civil Service Resourcing with the aim to introduce the system in the second half of 2012.
	DFID does though manage external recruitment for all grades below the Senior Civil Service through an e-recruitment system and all sifting is done blind. The personal details section of the application process is not available to the recruiting manager until after this part of the process is complete.

Syria

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to work with the UN Refugees Agency on meeting the needs of Syrian refugees.

Alan Duncan: I recently visited the border between Jordan and Syria and I saw first-hand the devastating harm the violence is having on the increasing numbers of Syrians who are seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. I also saw the commendable work the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and governments of neighbouring countries are doing to support those in need.
	The UK is working with UNHCR to address the critical needs of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. We have committed £2 million to provide safe accommodation for nearly 2,000 people fleeing their homes as well as providing food for up to 1,200 and water and sanitation for 800 people.
	UNHCR and UN agencies are working with local partners to allocate UK funding flexibly to respond to a rapidly changing situation to ensure aid reaches those who need it most. The UK also provides substantial core funding to UNHCR for its operations globally, including in this region. We remain in regular contact with UNHCR to ensure the humanitarian response is effective and coordinated.

DEFENCE

Army: Personnel

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the actual manning against establishment figures is for each infantry battalion; and what proportion of soldiers is (a) English, (b) Scottish, (c) Welsh, (d) Northern Irish or (e) of Commonwealth extraction by birth.

Nick Harvey: The following table provides the establishment and strength information for Service personnel in infantry battalions.
	
		
			 Division Unit Establishment Manning 
			 Guards 1 Grenadier Guards 536 520 
			  1 Coldstream Guards 535 462 
			  1 Scots Guards 603 545 
			  1 Irish Guards 537 483 
			  1 Welsh Guards 530 506 
			     
			 Scots 1 SCOTS 535 517 
			  2 SCOTS 528 448 
			  3 SCOTS 537 520 
			  4 SCOTS 608 460 
			  5 SCOTS 556 465 
			     
			 Queens 1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 599 594 
			  2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 535 541 
			  1 Royal Regiment Fusiliers 599 601 
			  2 Royal Regiment Fusiliers 532 523 
			  1 Royal Anglian 571 565 
			  2 Royal Anglian 538 528 
			     
			 Kings 1 LANCS 571 551 
			  2 LANCS 523 489 
			  1 YORKS 533 408 
			  2 YORKS 532 487 
			  3 YORKS 599 593 
			     
			 Prince of Wales 1 MERCIAN 533 494 
			  2 MERCIAN 527 439 
			  3 MERCIAN 604 507 
			  1 Royal Welsh 527 501 
			  2 Royal Welsh 575 529 
			     
			 Rifles 1 RIFLES 532 504 
			  2 RIFLES 528 506 
			  3 RIFLES 527 511 
			  4 RIFLES 571 551 
			  5 RIFLES 599 575 
			     
			 Royal Irish 1 Royal Irish 554 554 
			     
			 Para 2 PARA 553 463 
			  3 PARA 548 500 
		
	
	In addition to the battalions shown above, there are three incremental Guards companies whose primary role is Public Duties but which can also be used to augment the other Guards battalions as required. The establishment and strength information for these elements is as follows:
	
		
			 Unit Establishment Manning 
			 Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards 100 104 
			 7 Company Coldstream Guards 100 102 
			 F Company Scots Guards 100 100 
		
	
	It is not our policy to release corresponding data for 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment.
	Information relating to the birth nationality of personnel is not held in the format requested.

Army: Scotland

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether recruits will be allowed to choose the infantry cap badge within the Scottish regiments that they join.

Nick Harvey: Recruits joining the Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Scottish Division) are allocated to a particular battalion of the regiment during weeks 10 to 12 of initial training at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick. All recruits in the Royal Regiment of Scotland are given the opportunity to prioritise their choice of battalion, with the final allocation based on the operational needs of the battalions, balanced with the wishes of the individual. In addition, recruits cannot be assigned to battalions that may deploy while they remain under 18 years of age.
	Recruits wishing to join another infantry regiment also recruiting in Scotland may choose alternatively to join The Scots Guards or The Parachute Regiment.

Defence: Procurement

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2012, Official Report, column 721W, on defence: procurement, what discussions his Department had with HM Treasury on the assumed annual 1% annual increase to the equipment and equipment support budget from 2015.

Peter Luff: The Chief Secretary to the Treasury agreed that the Ministry of Defence should plan on an annual 1% real terms increase in spending on the Equipment programme from 2015 to 2020. This was originally agreed during the preliminary work on Planning Round 12 announced by the previous Secretary of State for Defence my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), on 18 July 2011. This planning assumption has not changed.

CABINET OFFICE

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the total monetary value is of each contract between his Department and Atos;
	(2)  when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

Francis Maude: As part of my Department's transparency programme, details of contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder:
	http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk

Average Earnings

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average household income was (a) on the latest date for which figures are available, (b) in 2010, (c) in 1997 and (d) in 1992 in the areas covered in 2012 by (i) York travel to work area, (ii) City of York Council and (iii) York Central constituency (A) in cash terms and (B) at 2012 prices.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average household income was (a) at the latest date for which figures are available, (b) in 2010, (c) in 1997 and (d) in 1992 in the areas covered in 2012 by (i) York travel to work area, (ii) City of York Council and (iii) York Central constituency (A) in cash terms and (B) at 2012 prices (111430).
	Table 1 shows the average net weekly equivalised household income for the City of York Council and York Central constituency areas, both before and after housing costs, for the years 2007/08, the latest available, and 2001/02, the earliest period for which data are available, in cash terms and 2011 prices. These figures are based on small area income estimates published by the ONS. The data in the table have been adjusted to 2011 prices using the implied expenditure deflator for the household sector.
	Small area income estimates for the York travel to work area are not currently produced.
	These estimates, as with any involving sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			 Table 1: Average net weekly equivalised household income in the City of York council and York Central parliamentary constituency areas, 2001-02 and 2007-08(1, 2) 
			 £ per week 
			   City of York council York Central parliamentary constituency 
			   Mean income (before housing costs)(3) Mean income (after housing costs)(3) Mean income (before housing costs)(3) Mean income (after housing costs)(3) 
			 (A) In cash terms 2001-02 370 340 360 310 
			  2007-08 480 400 460 370 
			       
			 (B) In 2011 prices 2001-02 470 430 450 400 
			  2007-08 540 450 510 410 
			 (1) Incomes are presented net of income tax payments, national insurance contributions and council tax. (2) Figures rounded to the nearest £10. (3) Housing costs include rent (gross of housing benefit), water charges, mortgage interest payments, structural insurance, ground rent and service charges. Source: Office for National Statistics

Business: Richmond Park

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of micro-businesses in Richmond Park constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what estimate has been made of the number of micro-businesses in Richmond Park constituency.
	Annual statistics on the number of enterprises are available from the ONS release UK Business: Activity, Size and Location at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk
	The table below contains the latest statistics available, which show the number of enterprises in Richmond Park constituency by employee size band.
	
		
			 Count of VAT or PAYE enterprises in the constituency of Richmond Park by employee size band 
			  0-9 Micro 
			 Richmond Park 5,980 
			 Note: The above figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, to avoid disclosure.

Business: West Midlands

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) micro, (b) small and (c) medium-sized businesses there were in (i) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency and (ii) the West Midlands in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many (a) micro, (b) small and (c) medium-sized businesses there were in (i) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency and (ii) the West Midlands in the latest period for which figures are available.
	Annual statistics on the number of enterprises are available from the ONS release UK Business: Activity, Size and Location at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk
	The following table contains the latest statistics available, which show the number of enterprises in Birmingham, Hall Green constituency and the West Midlands by employee size bands.
	
		
			 Count of VAT or PAYE based enterprises for the constituency of Birmingham, Hall Green and the West Midlands by employee size bands 
			  0-9 Micro 10-49 Small 50-249 Medium 250 + Large Total 
			 Birmingham, Hall Green 2,210 210 20 5 2,445 
			 West Midlands 149,100 15,090 2,705 690 167,585 
			 Note: The above figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, to avoid disclosure.

Charitable and Voluntary Organisations

Grahame Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what support his Department is giving to charitable and voluntary organisations seeking funding from his Department.

Nick Hurd: We have made grants available to a wide range of frontline charities and social enterprises and the infrastructure organisations that exist to support them.
	We have also put in place Big Society Capital, the world's first social investment institution.

Civil Servants

Michael McCann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what range of appraisal markings, and how many markings in each grade, were given to civil servants, by grade, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Francis Maude: Appraisal markings are determined by individual Departments.

Civil Servants

Michael McCann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average bonus paid to civil servants was, by grade, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Francis Maude: Since May 2010, non-consolidated performance-related pay (NCPRP) for senior civil servants (SCS) has been cut back, reducing the number who receive awards from 65% to 25% and rewarding only exceptional performance. This has delivered savings of around £15 million.
	The level of average awards made by each department and agency is published on departmental websites and data.gov.uk.

Civil Servants

Michael McCann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many civil servants, by grade, were subject to disciplinary penalties in the year ended March 2012.

Francis Maude: Disciplinary penalties are a responsibility of individual Departments.

Emergency Planning College

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will visit the Civil Service Emergency College at Hawkhills, Easingwold; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to its valuable work in sports safety training in support of the Olympics. I intend to visit in due course to see this for myself.

Employment

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many full-time equivalent civil service posts there were (a) on the latest date for which figures are available (b) in 2010, (c) in 1997 and (d) in 1992 in (i) the area currently covered by the City of York plus the DEFRA central science laboratory at Sand Hutton and (ii) the area currently covered by York Central constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many full-time equivalent civil servant posts there were (a) at the latest date for which figures are available (b) 2010, (c) in 1997 and (d) in 1992 in (i) the area currently covered by the City of York plus the DEFRA central science laboratory at Sand Hutton (ii) the area currently covered by York Central constituency (111416).
	The Annual Civil Service Employment Survey has been carried out by ONS since 2006. Prior to this the survey was called the Mandate Collection and was carried out by Cabinet Office. Therefore the data provided is for the latest year available, 2011, and 2010.
	The data are provided for York plus the DEFRA agency at Sand Hutton and are shown at Annex A. These data are not available by parliamentary constituency.
	The survey reference points for the data are 31 March for both 2010 and 2011.
	The data for York plus Sand Hutton are shown at Annex A.
	
		
			 Civil service employment in York plus DEFRA agency at Sand Hutton(1) 
			 Permanent employees (full-time equivalent) 
			  2010(2) 2011(2) 
			 York plus DEFRA agency 3,060 2,840 
			 (1) The Annual Civil Service Employment Survey uses post code to derive location and assign to a NUTS3 region. The figures provided are for the NUTS region York plus the former Central Science Laboratory (CSL), now Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (2) Survey reference date 31 March. Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, and numbers less than five are represented by ‘—’. Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey

Employment

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time jobs equivalent to 24 working hours or fewer each week have been created in (i) the UK and (ii) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency in each month since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time jobs equivalent to 24 working hours or fewer each week have been created in (i) the UK and (ii) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency in each month since May 2010. (111445)
	Estimates of new jobs created are not available. Information is available for net changes in level, which reflects both jobs lost and people who have been recruited into existing jobs that were vacant. Consequently this does not give any useful information regarding the actual level of new job creation.

Government Departments: Procurement

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he has taken to improve the process of Government procurement.

Francis Maude: holding answer 24 May 2012
	The programme of procurement reform we have initiated is unprecedented and has already yielded billions of pounds in savings for the taxpayer, including through tighter controls.
	A reformed Government Procurement Service is leading the way in letting cross Government deals which standardise requirements and leverage Government's buying power to full effect.
	We have introduced a new LEAN sourcing process for central Government which aims to reduce procurement time scales by at least 40%. I have mandated that all Departments, should procure all but the most complex goods and services within 120 days using more open competitions so that new and different types of suppliers and business models can flourish. We have also removed various obstacles in the process itself such as unnecessary or over burdensome pre-qualification questionnaires.
	Details of all our procurement reform can be found on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://procurement.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

Health Insurance

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many staff working in his Department are entitled to private health care as part of their remuneration package.

Francis Maude: The Civil Service Management Code precludes the provision of private health care from reward packages for staff.

Leonard Cheshire Disability

Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when (a) he and (b) Ministers from his Department last met representatives from Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Francis Maude: As part of my Department's transparency programme, details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-meetings-external-organisations-october-december-2011

Office for Civil Society

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 17 October 2011, Official Report, column 725W, on the Office for Civil Society: manpower, how many staff were working for the Office for Civil Society in May (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: On 30 April 2010, there were 54 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff working on civil society projects in the Office of the Third Sector.
	The Office for Civil Society (OCS) was created in June 2010 as part of the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG).
	In May 2011, OCS had an agreed headcount of 92 FTE. In May 2012, OCS has an agreed headcount of 88 FTE.

Third Sector

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many meetings his Department has had with the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss the role of charitable and voluntary organisations in the delivery of the Work Programme since June 2011.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office is in frequent discussion with the Department for Work and Pensions at ministerial and official level.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what indicators his Department is using to measure the success of the Big Society programme; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: Departmental Business Plans set out clear priorities across Government. Within the Cabinet Office, this includes what we are putting in place to support the growth of big society, reporting progress on initiatives such as Community Organisers, Community First, National Citizen Service, and Big Society Capital at:
	http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/business-plan/1/79
	We continue to report publicly on progress against these priorities.
	In addition we have carried out an evaluation of a key big society programme, the National Citizen Service, to determine its effectiveness in creating a more engaged, cohesive and responsible society. The results have been published and are available at:
	www.natcen.ac.uk/study/national-citizen-service-evaluation

Voluntary Organisations

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate his Department has made of the economic value of training in voluntary youth organisations in (a) Denton and Reddish constituency, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) nationally in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office has made no such estimate.
	However we understand that voluntary organisations provide an excellent level of training to both their staff and volunteers. The opportunity for young people to engage in volunteering is particularly valuable during this current economic climate as it allows young people to boost the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to find permanent paid employment. The Cabinet Office recognises these benefits and in 2011 launched the National Citizenship Service to encourage young people to volunteer in their communities.

Voluntary Work

Phillip Lee: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to reduce the administrative burdens of volunteering.

Nick Hurd: One of the priorities of the coalition is making it easier to volunteer.
	We are working to implement the recommendations made by the Civil Society Red Tape Task Force in its May 2011 report "Unshackling Good Neighbours" as a recently published "One Year On" report shows.
	The Cabinet Office has also launched the Red Tape Challenge Civil Society theme to identify remaining burdens. The Red Tape Challenge can be accessed at
	www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/

Voluntary Work: Young People

Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether he has considered expanding the National Citizen Service to include year 10 students.

Nick Hurd: The vision for National Citizen Service is that it is a 'rite of passage' for young people, to mark the transition to adulthood.
	There are currently no plans to offer the programme to year 10.

Working Hours

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what average number of hours was worked per week by people employed in (a) the UK and (b) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency in May (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the average number of hours worked per week by people employed in (a) the UK and (b) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency was in May (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012. (110937)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics on Average Hours Worked for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS). Estimates for the UK have been provided from this source for consistency. However, these UK estimates will differ from those in the National Labour Market Statistics Bulletin which are produced from the Labour Force Survey.
	The table gives the mean actual number of hours worked per worker per week for the geographies requested for the 12 month APS periods ending September 2010 and September 2011, the latest period for which figures are available. Data for 2012 are currently not available.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			 Mean hours worked per worker per week in the United Kingdom and Birmingham Hall Green constituency 
			  12 months ending 
			  September 2010 September 2011 
			 United Kingdom 31.8 31.7

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) men and (b) women from each ethnic group in each age group (i) started and (ii) completed an apprenticeship, by duration of apprenticeship, in each of the last six years.

John Hayes: holding answer 13 June 2012
	I am placing in the Libraries of the House data that show apprenticeship starts and achievements by gender, ethnicity and age between 2005/06 and 2010/11, the latest full year for which final data are available.
	I have also made data available that show apprenticeship achievements by duration between 2009/10 and 2010/11. These are the latest years for which data on both unadjusted and adjusted measures of length of stay are available.
	Care should be taken when interpreting and comparing the length of apprenticeships across years as it does not account for the change in the mix of apprenticeship levels and frameworks. For example, if a greater proportion of apprenticeship achievements were by frameworks of a typically shorter length, this would bring down the overall length despite no change in the length of a particular framework. Therefore a better comparison is at Sector Subject Area, which addresses some of these issues. I have also placed data in the Libraries of the House that show the average length of stay of apprenticeship achievements by Sector Subject Area and level.
	Prior attainment can affect the length of time it takes to complete an apprenticeship because it may take less time to acquire a particular skill. There are, therefore, two measures of duration. The adjusted measure is intended to exclude those apprentices with some prior attainment, as they are unlikely to be fully funded. It does not account for breaks in courses or transfers onto other courses, which could also affect the length of time taken to complete an apprenticeship. We hold more confidence that the adjusted measure is a more accurate reflection of the average apprenticeship length.
	Additionally, the average length of an apprenticeship programme does not necessarily reflect the guided learning hours or the actual length of time in learning. For these reasons the average length should be seen as contributory information to any broader assessment of the apprenticeship experience and quality.
	Although diversity issues are wider than apprenticeships, apprenticeships are an important route into many sectors and the Government are keen that apprentices reflect the diversity of the population.
	The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) recently undertook a series of diversity pilots that looked at encouraging diversity within apprenticeships. Pilots have finished and a final report is due to be published later this month.
	Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have has also met with the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, the TUC and NAS to ensure that people from all ethnic backgrounds are able to access apprenticeships and are supported throughout the apprenticeship.
	Information on the number of apprenticeship starts and achievements is published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 29 March 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statistical firstrelease/sfr_current
	Breakdowns by gender, age, ethnicity and length of stay are published in Supplementary Tables at the following links:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirst release/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary _tables/
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_other_statistics/

Apprentices: Medicine

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support is available through the National Apprenticeship Service for people wishing to work in clinical research.

John Hayes: A number of apprenticeship frameworks cover aspects of clinical research; namely Laboratory and Science Technicians (Intermediate and Advanced levels) issued by SEMTA (Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies) and Life Science (Higher) issued by Cogent. The National Apprenticeship Service provides funding towards the costs of delivering these frameworks, as well as working with the sector, employers and potential apprentices to promote their take up.

Apprentices: West Midlands

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprentice starts there were by 16 to 18 year-olds in (a) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency and (b) the West Midlands in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

John Hayes: Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship programme starts aged under 19 in (a) Birmingham, Hall Green parliamentary constituency, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England for academic years 2009/10 to 2010/11, the latest full years for which final data are available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Apprenticeship Programme Starts by learners aged under 19 by geography, 2009/10 to 2010/11 
			  Full Year 
			  2009/10 2010/11 
			 Birmingham, Hall Green 200 280 
			 West Midlands 13,590 15,690 
			 England total 116,800 131,700 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 except for the England totals which are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. Age is based on age at the start of the programme. The figures include a small number of under 16-year-olds. 3. Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner. The England totals include some postcodes which are not known. Geographic information is based on boundaries of regions as of May 2010. Source: Individualised Learner Record 
		
	
	Information on the number of apprenticeship starts is published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR and supplementary tables were published on 29 March 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary_tables/

Arms Trade

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the priority markets will be for the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation in 2012-13.

Mark Prisk: The UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation 2012-13 list of priority markets is:
	Australia
	Brazil
	Canada
	Europe/NATO/EU (as a collective market)
	India
	Indonesia
	Japan
	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
	Kuwait
	Libya
	Malaysia
	Qatar
	Oman
	South Korea
	Thailand
	Turkey
	UAE
	USA

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

Norman Lamb: Central records indicate that no payments have been made to Atos in the current financial year. Accordingly the Department has no existing contracts with Atos.

Business: Finance

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the barriers to young innovative firms obtaining equity finance.

Mark Prisk: The Department regularly assesses the barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) raising equity finance by monitoring investment statistics and research produced by external organisations such as the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, European Venture Capital Association and National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. We recognise that access to finance is critical for businesses to survive and grow and that small and medium-sized companies face particular challenges.
	In 2009, the Department published research undertaken by SQW Consulting which explored the existence and size of the equity gap affecting SMEs (‘The Supply of Equity Finance to SMEs: Revisiting the Equity Gap’). This research found the equity gap stretched for funding amounts of £250,000 to at least £2 million (with some putting the ceiling at £5 million) for the majority of SMEs seeking equity finance. However, in the case of sectors requiring complex research and development or large capital expenditure, the gap may extend up to £15 million.
	The Department has also undertaken a number of public consultations, including ‘Financing a private sector recovery’, which asks about conditions affecting SMEs raising equity finance.

Business: Finance

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many Enterprise Capital Funds had been set up by May 2012.

Mark Prisk: By May 2012, 11 Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) had been set up. Since the ECF programme was launched in 2006, over £130 million has been invested in more than 120 small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs).
	A new £40 million ECF was announced in April to invest in UK cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service companies. Government will commit up to £25 million, with the remainder coming from the private sector.
	The Government has committed a further £200 million to ECFs over this spending review period to April 2015, providing more than £300 million of venture capital investment for early stage innovative SMEs with the highest growth potential.

Business: Finance

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee to (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and (b) others.

Mark Prisk: The Government has actively promoted the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme (EFG) as part of the ‘Business in You’ campaign launched by the Prime Minister in January 2012. We are working alongside the private sector, local enterprise partnerships, and business support organisations to raise awareness of the range of Government support available to small and medium-size enterprises.
	Information about EFG is easily accessible on the BIS website and on the websites of the major high street banks, who are committed to support EFG as part of the Business Finance Taskforce commitments.

Commercial Agents: EU Law

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what legislative protection is currently in place to ensure the payment of commercial agents by firms.

Norman Lamb: Part III of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (S.I. 1993/3053) deals with the remuneration of the commercial agent. It makes provision for the date on which commission becomes due. The parties cannot contract out of these provisions. Therefore, if the principal fails to make the due payment, the commercial agent may be able to bring a claim against the principal. These regulations have their origin in EU legislation, namely the EU Council Directive 86/653/EEC on the co-ordination of the laws of the member states relating to self-employed commercial agents. These regulations have been amended twice since then (in 1993—S.I. 1993/3173 and in 1998—S.I. 1998/2868).

Commercial Agents: EU Law

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has had discussions with the European Commission on the provisions in EU Council Directive 86/653/EEC relating to pay, when paid clauses in commercial contracts.

Norman Lamb: This Department has had no such discussions with the European Commission, and has no plans to do so.

Commercial Agents: EU Law

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations his Department has received on possible changes to EU Council Directive 86/653/EEC to the EU Directive 3053 to ban the use of pay, when paid clauses.

Norman Lamb: This Department has received no such representations.

Complaints

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many complaints about the work of his Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were received in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Formal complaints against the Department are published in the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's Annual Report.
	Information regarding the Department's non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Insolvency Service, Companies House, the National Measurement Office, the Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
	Letter from Geoff Russell, dated 13 June 2012
	Thank you for your question asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many complaints about the work of his Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were received in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
	Please be advised of the following figures in respect to complaints received by the Skills Funding Agency:
	1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 a total of 45 complaints about the SFA
	1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 a total of 28 complaints about the SFA.
	Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 22 May 2012
	The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question asking how many complaints about the work of his Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were received in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.
	Complaints made to The Insolvency Service about its work were 269 in 2010/11 and 330 in 2011/12.
	Letter from David Williams, dated 22 May 2012
	Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills asking how many complaints about the work of his Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were received in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. 108940
	The UK Space Agency became an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 1 April 2011 and no complaints have been received regarding the work of his Agency during the financial year 2011/12.
	Letter from Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, dated 18 May 2012
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to contact you in response to your parliamentary question asking the Secretary of State of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many complaints about the work of his Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were received in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.
	The total number of complaints received by Ordnance Survey in this time period was:
	(a) 2010-11: 594 complaints
	(b) 2011-12: 789 complaints
	These figures are published in our Annual Reports.
	These figures reflect correspondence of many types, including cases which raise issues about the currency and depiction of specific map features of interest to particular individuals, and those which reflect misunderstandings about the nature and scope of Ordnance Survey mapping, as well as complaints about the performance of Ordnance Survey.
	Letter from Tim Moss, dated 18 May 2012
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 17 May 2012, UIN 108940 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	In 2010/11 Companies House received 24,971 complaints about its work, 11,995 of which were found to be justified after investigation. In 2011/12 the number of complaints was 18,025. 5,700 of these were found to be justified after investigation.
	A very substantial number of complaints in 2010/11 were received following the implementation of the new Companies Act. These reduced in 2011/12 as customers became familiar with the Act and Companies House made upgrades to its guidance and services.
	Letter from Peter Mason, dated 23 May 2012
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO) to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 17 May 2012, asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills about the number of complaints about the work of his Department and its agencies.
	NMO received one complaint about its work during 2010-11 which fell to be considered under our formal procedures; this complaint was subsequently resolved.
	No complaints under the NMO's formal procedures were received in 2011-12.
	Letter from John Alty, dated 24 May 2012
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 17th May 2012, to the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The number of complaints received by the IPO are as follows:
	a) Total for 2010-11 (Apr-Mar) = 118
	(55 Formal, 63 informal)
	b) Total for 2011-12 (Apr-Mar) = 88
	(42 Formal, 46 informal)
	Letter from John Hirst, dated 22 May 2012
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 17 May 2012, UIN 108940 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Met Office encourages and records a considerable amount of feedback from the public ranging from helpful comments about how we could improve our services to genuine complaints. We also monitor feedback of various kinds through the press and other media, such as followers on twitter, including some on forecasts not actually made
	by the Met Office.
	All feedback is evaluated and where possible responded to. It is difficult to be precise about the number of genuine complaints made, without going back and analysing all feedback received. However, in 2010-11 and 2011-12 we recorded a total of 2,882 and 3,550 items of feedback respectively.
	I hope this helps.
	Letter from Annette Davies-Govett, dated 21 May 2012
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to your Parliamentary Question 108940 tabled on 17 May 2012 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many complaints about the work of his Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were received in {a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.
	The information regarding the number of complaints received by Land Registry during the specified periods is set out below. For comparative purposes the total number of applications received during each period has also been included. As you can see, the
	number of complaints received represents significantly less than 1% of applications received overall.
	
		
			 Year Complaints received Volume of applications (million) 
			 2010-11 3,217 20.5 
			 2011-12 2,193 23.3 
		
	
	I hope that you find this information useful.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department had with Adrian Beecroft as part of his review into employment law.

Norman Lamb: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has not met Adrian Beecroft.
	The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), met Adrian Beecroft on 20 July 2011 in his role as the then Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs in advance of writing to him on 29 July 2011 to commission the report. My right hon. Friend also attended another meeting with Mr Beecroft on 11 October 2011.

Exports: Bahrain

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills who the end-user is of the goods licensed for export in the fourth quarter of 2011 to Bahrain and described as equipment employing cryptography and cryptographic software.

Mark Prisk: All export licence applications for strategic goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the Export Control Organisation within this Department against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. A licence will not be issued where to do so would contravene the criteria.
	The publicly available information on licensing decisions published in the annual and quarterly reports on strategic export controls, available to view at
	https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/eng/fox
	does not include information on specific end-users. This is because in principle the disclosure of such information would threaten to contravene expectations of confidentiality and the protection of commercial interests in the licensing process. With that in mind, I am however prepared to inform you in this case that the stated end-users were a commercial airline and a provider of public mobile telephony services.

Departmental Staff

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people employed by his Department are based in London.

Norman Lamb: The following table shows how many people employed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) are based in London. Figures include all staff on BIS payroll as at 30 May 2012.
	
		
			  Number 
			 BIS London based staff (without UKTI) 2,008 
			 BIS London based staff (including UKTI) 2,474

Manufacturing Industries: Training

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to improve manufacturing skills in London through (a) apprenticeships and (b) higher education courses.

John Hayes: Manufacturing skills are high on this Department's agenda. On apprenticeships, final data for the 2010/11 academic year show that there were 2,330 apprenticeship starts in London in the engineering and manufacturing technologies sector subject area, up by 45.1% on 2009/10. The National Apprenticeship Service is working with employers to further promote and prioritise expansion in this sector, and in London overall.
	On higher education courses, universities are autonomous bodies and make their own decisions about the courses they provide to meet the changing needs of their students. We do not hold specific data on manufacturing skills in London. We have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England to continue to prioritise strategically important subjects such as engineering and manufacturing and vulnerable subjects (SIVS) when allocating the teaching grant.

New Businesses

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how his Department (a) monitors and (b) regulates the support from (A) the Business Enterprise Fund and (B) other publicly-funded organisations for start-up businesses in England.

Mark Prisk: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) is: (a) monitored in its use of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee through oversight by Capital for Enterprise Ltd (CfEL) (which includes audit and enhanced audit); (b) regulated by the Companies Act as a company limited by guarantee (as Bradford Enterprise Agency Ltd). BEF is also signed up to the Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) Code of Practice a voluntary code used by the Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) sector.
	(b) Other CDFIs are: (a) monitored by CfEL in relation to their use of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee or any funding agreements which were previously held with a Regional Development Agency (b) regulated by the legislation which is relevant to their structure. The vast majority are signed up to the CDFA Code of Practice. The Government's new Start Up loans scheme will also be monitored by CfEL.

Overseas Trade: Gabon

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to post UK Trade and Industry staff to Libreville in Gabon; and what proposals he has to support companies and organisations that wish to do business in Gabon.

Mark Prisk: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has no plans to post staff in Gabon. We have recently reviewed UKTI's presence across the globe in order to ensure we have the appropriate coverage within existing resources. In that review we concluded not to extend services in Gabon. UK Trade and Investment has staff in 96 markets which account for 98% of world GDP. Gabon is covered by the British high commission in Cameroon. Political support from the Head of Mission in Yaoundé in respect of lobbying for a particular contract or business with interests in Gabon is available. UKTI also provides very basic information on Gabon and other markets in which we do not have personnel via the relevant country pages of the UKTI website. Support for UK-based companies interested in Gabon is also available from private sector business multipliers.

Retail Trade

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to help support the retail sector.

Mark Prisk: The Government are actively working to help all retailers. Retail is vitally important to local and national economies. This was why it was chosen to be one of the first sectors to be the subject of a growth review, and was the first theme chosen for the Red Tape Challenge. These initiatives identified a number of barriers to successful retail performance and growth, which the Government is addressing.
	As a result the Government have committed to extending small business rate relief and announced that 160 regulations impacting on retailers or their customers will be scrapped or simplified. We are also conducting a review of employment law.
	In March, the Government's formal response to the recommendations made by Mary Portas in her report, “An Independent Review into the Future of our High Streets”, was published by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	Following a competition launched by the Minister for Housing and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), 12 towns across the country have now been selected as 'Portas Pilots', benefiting from a share of £1 million to help turn around their high streets and road-test the collaborative, local ‘Town Team’ approach recommended by Mary Portas.

Students: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential effects on education provision for people aged 16 to 24 of the introduction of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans.

John Hayes: The introduction of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans will not affect the funding available for Further Education for those aged under 24, or for adults of any age accessing provision at Level 2 or below. Government grant funding for Further Education is being focused on young people, those with low skills and those seeking work.

Students: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the public finances of the introduction of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

John Hayes: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will publish a Regulatory Impact Assessment of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans following clearance by the Regulatory Reform Cabinet Committee. This will include an assessment of the costs and benefits of introducing loans.

British Summertime

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress he has made in conducting his proposed study to review the scope, quality and robustness of the available evidence on changing the clocks by one hour.

Norman Lamb: David Simmonds Consultancy has carried out their initial research on this study and are now seeking information from relevant Government Departments and interested parties. All information will be collated in a report which is expected to be with the Department in July 2012.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Conferences

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by (a) his Department and (b) the Homes and Communities Agency on accreditation for conferences in 2011.

Bob Neill: Neither the Department for Communities and Local Government nor the Homes and Communities Agency routinely identify accreditation costs, for either attending external conferences or in running any ourselves.

Debts Written Off

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much bad debt was written off by his Department in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: The amount written off by the Department for 2010-11 is contained within the published annual report and accounts.
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/about/howwework/corporatereports/reportsaccounts/annualreports/#
	The Department's 2011-12 accounts have yet to be finalised and will be published in due course.
	The vast majority of the Department's programme bad debt write-offs relate to the European regional development fund 2000-06 scheme that the Government has inherited from the last Administration.

Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on the updating of published data in line with the Government's transparency agenda in each month since September 2011.

Bob Neill: The Department has not spent any money on external goods and services in relation to publishing information online since September 2011.
	Online publication, together with strengthened financial controls, has helped save taxpayers' money, as illustrated by the three-quarters reduction in Government Procurement Card expenditure since we published every item of spending online.

Empty Property

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) empty homes and (b) homes which had been empty for more than six months there were in each region in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stunell: Data on empty homes can be found in the Department for Communities and Local Government live tables on dwelling stock. Live table 615 shows empty homes by Government region for all vacant and long-term vacant homes:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/stockincludingvacants/livetables/
	The number of long term empty homes is down by just over 21,500 since 2010, the biggest year on year decrease since 2004.

First-time Buyers

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many first-time buyers have (a) registered an interest in, (b) applied for and (c) bought on the Government's FirstBuy scheme.

Grant Shapps: The Homes and Communities Agency, via its network of local HomeBuy agents, responds to around 11,000 inquiries a month regarding FirstBuy and shared ownership. Over 8,000 applications have been received for the FirstBuy scheme with over 6,000 reservations being placed by eligible applicants.
	The FirstBuy prospectus was published by the Homes and Communities Agency in April 2011 and allocations were announced in June following the bidding competition. The contracts were signed over the summer, with the first homes being available for sale from September 2011.
	Official statistics published by the Homes and Communities Agency on 12 June show that there were 2,994 sales to the end of March 2012, illustrating how the scheme is on course and on target.

First-time Buyers

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many lenders are participating in the Government's FirstBuy scheme.

Grant Shapps: There are currently 21 lenders offering mortgages on FirstBuy, ensuring coverage of 69% of the mortgage market. The Homes and Communities Agency are also in discussions with a number of small lenders about participating.

First-time Buyers

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many loans from the Government's FirstBuy scheme have been repaid on resale of the property with the Government's share being reinvested in more affordable housing.

Grant Shapps: The FirstBuy scheme will help around 10,500 first time buyers by March 2013. House builders have reported over 6,000 reservations since the scheme opened in September 2011.
	There have been no FirstBuy equity loan redemptions since the scheme opened in September 2011 but we would not expect there to be at this stage. Under the terms of the scheme the Government will benefit from any equity uplift in the value of the property and any receipts will be reinvested to deliver more affordable homes.
	As a comparison, there have only been 157 redemptions (105 as a result of full sales and 52 as a result of either partial or full “staircasing”) under the previous Administration's HomeBuy Direct scheme which was launched in September 2008.

First-time Buyers

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households in each parliamentary constituency have participated in the FirstBuy scheme to date.

Grant Shapps: The FirstBuy equity loan scheme will help an estimated 10,500 aspiring home owners in England by March 2013.
	The FirstBuy prospectus was published by the Homes and Communities Agency in April 2011 and allocations were announced in June following the bidding competition. The contracts were signed over the summer, with the first homes being available for sale from September 2011.
	Official statistics published by the Homes and Communities Agency on 12 June show that there were 2,994 sales to the end of March 2012, illustrating how the scheme is on course and on target.
	Housebuilders have found significant interest from first time buyers, reporting so far over 8,000 applications, and over 6,000 reservations by eligible applicants.
	We do not hold data on sales at constituency level.

First-time Buyers

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the average age of an unassisted first-time buyer in England.

Grant Shapps: There are a number of different measures by different commentators. The Council of Mortgage Lenders' most recent estimate of the average age of unassisted first time buyers can be found through this link:
	http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/publications/newsandviews/104/390
	We recognise the particular challenges faced by first time buyers and are providing a range of options intended to help them and others into home ownership. These include:
	the NewBuy Guarantee Scheme, which provides prospective buyers with access to higher loan to value mortgages on new build properties;
	FirstBuy, that helps first time buyers who are struggling to get onto the property ladder due to the need for larger deposits; and
	Extending the Right to Buy discount to give more tenants the chance to own their home.
	Through our measures many more first time buyers are able to buy their own home, with mortgage interest payments for new borrowers at their lowest levels for 14 years. And mortgages for first time buyers are much more affordable, with first time buyers spending just 12.5% on mortgages compared to 19.6% spent in 2008.

First-time Buyers

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on promotional material for the Government's NewBuy Guarantee scheme.

Grant Shapps: The Department for Communities and Local Government, and Government as a whole, has spent nothing on promotional material supporting the industry-led NewBuy Guarantee scheme. NewBuy is being promoted by house builders and mortgage lenders.

First-time Buyers

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has made an estimate of the average deposit required of a first-time buyer.

Grant Shapps: The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that the average first time buyer deposit is over £26,000, based on the median advance and the median percentage advance for homes purchased by first time buyers in 2011.
	We recognise the particular challenges faced by first time buyers and are providing a range of options intended to help them and others into home ownership. These include:
	the NewBuy Guarantee scheme, which provides prospective buyers with access to higher loan to value mortgages on new build properties;
	FirstBuy, that helps first time buyers who are struggling to get onto the property ladder due to the need for larger deposits and,
	Extending the Right to Buy discounts to give more tenants the chance to own their home.
	Through our measures many more first time buyers are able to buy their own home, with mortgage interest payments for new borrowers at their lowest levels for 14 years. And mortgages for first time buyers are much more affordable, with first time buyers spending just 12.5% on mortgages compared to 19.6% spent in 2008.

Homelessness

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to introduce a national telephone helpline for No Second Night Out nationwide.

Grant Shapps: On 15 December 2011 I announced my intention to ensure that a national No Second Night Out telephone line would be in place by Christmas 2012.
	The reporting line will be, for the first time, a single national line covering England with an objective of improving systems for dealing with rough sleeping. It will contribute to tackling rough sleeping and single homelessness through identification, accountability and challenge to local authorities and their partners in addressing rough sleeping. Members of the public will be equipped to bring rough sleepers to the attention of an appropriate authority, to be empowered to understand the local response mechanisms and to receive timely feedback on action taken and the outcome of their report.

Homelessness

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the ministerial working group on homelessness has discussed the rise in homelessness and rough sleeping since May 2010.

Grant Shapps: Homelessness is half the average rate that it was under the previous administration and remains lower than in 28 of the last 30 years.
	The coalition Government are committed to tackling homelessness. We are investing £400 million in homelessness prevention over four years (2011-12 to 2014-15). On top of that we provided an additional £70 million last year to help local agencies prevent and tackle homelessness.
	The aim of the working group is to prevent and tackle homelessness and improve the lives of those who do become homeless. By bringing the relevant Government Departments together, we are addressing the multi-faceted issues that contribute to homelessness.

Housing

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what capital projects the Homes and Communities Agency will have in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15; and what he proposes the budget for each will be in each such year.

Grant Shapps: Ministers set the overall strategic vision for the Homes and Communities Agency and its role and activities, and its operating and financial framework, and agree its overall budgets and delivery programmes at a high level through approving its corporate plan each year. Translating high level delivery programmes into individual capital projects, and determining the annual budget for each individual project, is largely an operational issue for the Homes and Communities Agency.
	The agency has published extensive information on its planned capital allocations for 2012-13 to 2014-15, across most of its programmes, on its public website. These are
	planned allocations which can be subject to change.
	Information for the following programmes may be found at the following web addresses. In most cases the information is displayed by area and reflects differing periods over the spending review period rather than being on the basis of on an annual profile. Where annual profiles are provided future years (2013-14, and 2014-15) are indicative and maybe subject to change.
	Affordable Homes Programme allocations published:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/affordable-homes
	Planned allocations for 2012-15 made during 2008-11 under the former National Affordable Housing Programme were published at the time.
	Homelessness Change Programme allocations published:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/sites/default/files/our-work/homelessness-change-programme-allocations-191011.csv
	and
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/sites/default/files/homelessness_change_additional_allocations_to_2015.csv
	Traveller Pitch Funding allocations published:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/sites/default/files/our-work/tpf_allocations_january2012.csv
	Empty Homes allocations published:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/sites/default/files/our-work/eh-2012-15-providers.csv
	Clusters of empty homes was announced on 29 May, a breakdown is available on the at the following website:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/clusters-of-empty-homes
	FirstBuy and Mortgage Rescue are not organised on a capital projects basis. Further these are demand led programmes and therefore allocations are not provided in advance of applications by individuals.
	The assessment process for Get Britain Building continues, but shortlisted and reserve schemes have been announced and final decisions are expected shortly. Details of the short/reserved lists, as at the end of May, can be found on the following website:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/get-britain-building
	Details of Decent Homes and Large Scale Voluntary Transfer gap funding can be found at the following link:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/existing-stock
	For the Homes and Communities Agency land-based delivery programme, for the Property and Regeneration sub-programme, I am placing a copy of this information in the Library of the House. For the Economic Assets sub-programme (for sites which transferred to the Homes and Communities Agency from the former regional development agencies in 2011) the assessment process is still ongoing and no decisions have yet been made on planned or indicative allocations.
	For the Kickstart and Accelerated Land Delivery programmes, I am also placing a copy of this information in the Library of the House.

Housing Benefit

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the increase to the housing benefit bill as a result of the Government's Affordable Rent model.

Grant Shapps: The impact on housing benefit of the affordable rent model was assessed in the “Impact Assessment for Affordable Rent”, available on the Department's website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/rentimpactassessment
	Under the new Affordable Homes programme 2011-15, offers exceeded expectations, meaning we now expect to provide up to 170,000 affordable homes, including commitments, by 2015, compared with the 150,000 originally estimated - for no more capital grant. The major innovation of the Affordable Homes programme was the introduction of Affordable Rent. This allows housing providers to lever in a greater proportion of private finance by increasing rents to up to 80% of the market level, meaning that more people are able to benefit from a sub market rent for every pound of taxpayers' capital investment. Around £19.5 billion is being invested in much needed affordable housing. The Government is investing £4.5 billion to deliver up to 170,000 new affordable homes from 2011-15 and the total funding contributed by providers to deliver these properties is around £15 billion.
	Because we have been able to provide more homes with the original budget than we anticipated at the time of the original impact assessment, there will be some further impact on the housing benefit bill. DCLG therefore agreed to cover the anticipated £56 million increase in housing benefit costs associated with this increase.

Housing: Construction

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many homes were built on public sector land released for house building (a) between May 1997 and April 2010 and (b) since May 2010;
	(2)  how many hectares of public sector land were released for house building (a) between May 1997 and April 2010 and (b) since May 2010.

Grant Shapps: Information about the number of homes built and hectares of land released for house building between May 1997 and April 2010 is not held centrally.
	As part of this Government's public land programme, and for the first time, major land holding Government Departments have published disposal strategies, setting out their plans to bring forward land for development and deliver growth. We have also put in place mechanisms to, monitor delivery of the programme, including scrutiny by Cabinet Committee. I refer the hon. Member to the report published on 7 May 2012, ‘Accelerating the release of surplus public sector land—progress report one year on’, which says more about progress to date. As the programme goes forward we will continue to report on progress.

Housing: Construction

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  with reference to the Housing Minister's announcement of February 2011 of Government plans to accelerate the release of public sector land to deliver up to 100,000 homes, (a) how many hectares of land have been released, (b) what the estimate is of the number of homes that could be built on that land and (c) how many homes have been built on land so released;
	(2)  how many jobs have been supported as a result of the Government's plans to accelerate the release of public land;
	(3)  how many hectares of land have been identified in each region under his Department's Public Land Initiative;
	(4)  which Government Departments (a) have and (b) have not published their land disposal strategies.

Grant Shapps: I refer the hon. Member to the report published on 7 May 2012, ‘Accelerating the release of surplus public sector land—progress report one year on’. This describes the progress we have made in the past year to accelerate the release of surplus public land and is available in the Library of the House.
	As the report sets out we have identified land with capacity for around 102,430 homes, which amounts to the release of over 7,700 ha of public land across the country. The release of this land over the spending review period could support as many as 25,000 jobs.
	Sites will be released to the market over the spending review period. Release dates will vary, in part due to the type of site and what preparatory works are needed to make it ready for sale. Development will then be subject to the local planning process and local authorities will want to work with local people and developers to meet housing needs.
	The Homes and Communities Agency and four major landholding Government Departments—Defence, Transport, Health and Environment, and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—have published their land release strategies, setting out details of their land with capacity for housing that they intend to release over this spending review period. We are also working with smaller public landholders to maximise the release of their surplus land for housing.

Housing: Construction

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many bids have been received for the Government's Build Now, Pay Later scheme; and how many have been successful;
	(2)  how many hectares of public sector land have been released under the Government's Build Now, Pay Later scheme since May 2010; and how many homes have been built as a result.

Grant Shapps: Build Now, Pay Later is not a scheme that we are seeking bids for. To get development moving and new homes built Departments have committed to release as much land as possible on Build Now, Pay Later terms, where there is market demand and where it represents value for money and is affordable. More detail including examples of where it has already been used are set out in ‘Accelerating the release of surplus public sector land-progress report one year on’ (May 2012), which is available in the Library of the House.

Housing: Construction

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 246W, on housing: construction, whether the figures of £100,000 and £150,000 accorded to the National Self Build Association include the site cost.

Grant Shapps: The figures were drawn from the National Self Build Association report ‘An Action Plan to promote the growth of self build housing’, which states that
	“the vast majority of self builders spend between £100,000 and £150,000 on the construction of their home (plus the site cost).”
	For example, Fairgrove Homes are currently selling plots in Nottinghamshire to self builders for £40,000 and will build a good sized three bed home for a further £90,000. And at Ashley Vale in Bristol the community built their homes for less than £150,000 each, including land and all building costs.

Housing: Construction

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average density of new dwellings was in each (a) region and (b) local authority area in each year since 2010.

Andrew Stunell: Information on the average density of new dwellings in each Government region for 2010 and in each local authority for 2007-10, the latest information available, can be found in Tables P231 and P232 of the Department's Land Use Change Statistics at
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningbuilding/planningstatistics/livetables/landusechange/
	The density of new housing at local authority level is only published as multi-year averages as it can be highly volatile at more frequent intervals.

Housing: Construction

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new (a) affordable homes and (b) homes for social rent were built in each (i) region and (ii) local authority area in each year since 1997.

Andrew Stunell: Estimates of the number of affordable and social rented homes delivered in each local authority area are published on the Department's website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/affordablehousingsupply/livetables/
	New affordable housing can be delivered through new build and acquisitions, although the majority (88%) of the additional supply in 2010-11 was through new build.

Housing: Construction

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the number of jobs supported to date in construction and related industries by increasing demand for newly-built homes as a result of his Department's NewBuy scheme;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the likely future increase in housing supply in the future as a result of the Government's NewBuy Guarantee Scheme.

Grant Shapps: The Government are committed to reviewing the NewBuy Guarantee scheme in 2014. This review will include an assessment of the number of additional homes built and jobs supported by the scheme.
	The Home Builders Federation has estimated that at least 25,000 additional new homes will be built in total as a direct result of NewBuy. This number of new homes would support up to 50,000 additional jobs.

Housing: Older People

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  when the industry-led guidance on housing for older people will be published;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with housing and care providers to deliver the New Deal for Older People's Housing;
	(3)  what recent steps he has taken to implement the New Deal for Older People's Housing.

Grant Shapps: Since the publication of the New Deal for Older People's Housing in the Housing Strategy (November 2011), the Department has published the Lifetime Neighbourhoods report (December 2011) to share good practice and enable local partners to create age-friendly, inclusive neighbourhoods. The Department also published the national evaluation of the handyperson programme in January 2012. In addition, FirstStop has published several independent reports funded by the Department: the evaluation of FirstStop by Cambridge university, value for money case studies of two local FirstStop partner services, and helping older people choose the right home for them: an introduction to the costs and benefits of providing advice and support.
	The National Planning Policy Framework, published in March 2012, sets out that local planning authorities should plan for a mix of housing based on current and future demographic trends, market trends and the needs of different groups in the community, such as older people.
	Ministers from the Department for Communities and Local Government have not had any recent discussions with housing and care providers to deliver the New Deal for Older People's Housing. However, senior officials within the Department's Homelessness and Support Division regularly meet with housing and care providers to discuss older people's housing.
	The industry-led guidance on housing for older people is not for Government to publish. We understand from the industry group developing the guidance that they plan to publish it this summer.

Local Government Services

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to support council staff who want to make in-house bids under the community right to challenge draft statutory guidance.

Andrew Stunell: The Localism Act 2011 lists the following as relevant bodies—those eligible to submit an expression of interest to run services on behalf of a relevant authority:
	(a) a voluntary or community body;
	(b) a body of persons or a trust which is established for charitable purposes only;
	(c) in relation to a relevant authority, two or more employees of that authority; or
	(d) such other person or body as may be specified by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the right hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), by regulations.
	Draft statutory guidance gives further explanation of provisions in the Localism Act and associated regulations. It does not alter provisions in the Act which set out the circumstances in which employees may take advantage of the right.
	There has been some confusion as to the intention of paragraph 9.5 of the draft statutory guidance. For the avoidance of doubt, we intend to remove this paragraph when the final version is published on commencement of the legislation.

Local Government Services

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the compatibility of draft statutory guidance on the community right to challenge with the duty of best value.

Andrew Stunell: The purpose of the draft statutory guidance on the community right to challenge is simply to provide further explanation of provisions in the Localism Act 2011 and associated regulations. It does not seek to change any aspect of the duty of best value, and it is acknowledged in section 6 of the guidance that authorities will need to comply with this duty.
	There has been some confusion as to the intention of paragraph 9.5 of the draft statutory guidance. For the avoidance of doubt, we intend to remove this paragraph when the final version is published on commencement of the legislation.

Local Government: Assets

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he intends to publish guidance for local authorities on assets of community value.

Andrew Stunell: My Department intends to publish non-statutory guidance in the form of an Advice Note to local authorities on the assets of community value legislation.
	As part of the development of the regulations DCLG officials have been providing partners in the local authority sector, including the Local Government Association, with a series of update notes to help them prepare for the commencement of the new scheme.
	The notes have given the sector practical information on what the regulations will include and given them an opportunity to ask questions around implementation issues. We issued a substantive version of the note to the sector on 21 April, and are taking into account their feedback which will be reflected in the final version.
	We intend to publish the Advice Note prior to the Statutory Instruments commencing as a way of helping local authorities prepare for implementation of the scheme.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many people have been rejected for loans provided through the Government's NewBuy Guarantee scheme;
	(2)  how many people have applied for loans provided through the Government's NewBuy Guarantee Scheme;
	(3)  how many people have been accepted for loans provided through the Government's NewBuy Guarantee Scheme;
	(4)  how many people have been rejected for loans provided through the Government's NewBuy Guarantee Scheme.

Grant Shapps: The Government will collect data on offers and completions under the NewBuy Guarantee scheme as these will define the extent of its liability. The Government will not be collecting data on applications for loans.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what checks are in place to ensure that a property purchased through the Government's NewBuy Guarantee scheme is the applicant's main home and not a second home or buy-to-let investment;
	(2)  what checks are in place to ensure that successful applicants to the Government's NewBuy Guarantee scheme are UK citizens, or have indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Grant Shapps: Those accessing mortgages under the NewBuy Guarantee scheme are required to confirm to the mortgage lender at point of application:
	that the property being purchased is the applicant's main home and not a second home or a buy-to-let investment; and
	either that they are a UK citizen or that they have indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
	It is a legal requirement for applicants to provide lenders with this information honestly and accurately.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been built as a result of the Government's NewBuy Guarantee scheme.

Grant Shapps: The Government are committed to reviewing the NewBuy Guarantee scheme in 2014. This review will include Government's assessment of the number of additional homes built as a result of the scheme.
	The Home Builders Federation estimates there will be at least 25,000 additional new homes built as a direct result of NewBuy.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) lenders and (b) housebuilders have signed up to the Government's NewBuy scheme; how many are not members of the Home Builders Federation; and what targets have been set for the number to sign up by the end of 2012.

Grant Shapps: As of 13 June 2012 five lenders (Barclays, Halifax, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander) and 13 builders (Barratt, Bellway, Berkeley, Bloor, Bovis, CALA, Crest Nicholson, Fairview, Linden, Morris, Persimmon, Redrow, and Taylor Wimpey) were operational—which is to say able to conduct business transactions—under the NewBuy Guarantee scheme, ensuring coverage of 73% of the mortgage market. One of those builders is not a member of the Home Builders Federation.
	No targets have been set regarding the number of builders participating in the scheme, though Government are working with partners to promote take-up.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average percentage deposit is for mortgages offered under the Government's NewBuy Guarantee Scheme.

Grant Shapps: All mortgages eligible under the NewBuy Guarantee scheme will require a deposit of between 5% and 10%.
	Government's assessment of the average percentage deposit under the scheme will be included in its review after two years.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment his Department has made of the potential financial risk to the Exchequer of the security provided by Government to loans provided under its NewBuy Guarantee scheme.

Grant Shapps: I refer the hon. Member to the financial minute which was laid before the House on 19 March, which explains the arrangements in detail.

Private Rented Housing

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans his Department has to improve protections for tenants in the private rented sector.

Andrew Stunell: The current legislative framework already provides strong protections for tenants in the private rented sector while ensuring that the burdens on landlords are not such as to inhibit much needed growth in supply. Local authorities have extensive powers to take action against landlords letting poor quality or badly managed properties through the Housing Act 2004. We are encouraging local authorities to make more effective use of their existing powers to tackle criminal landlords, as outlined in my Department's press notice of 30 April 2012 on “beds in sheds”.
	The Housing Act 2004 also provides for protection of tenants' deposits. In common with all businesses, landlords, and their agents, are also subject to consumer protection legislation and health and safety regulations. Finally, the Housing Act 1988 endorsed well established protections against unlawful eviction and excessive rents. The Government do not have plans to add to this range of protections.

Right to Buy Scheme

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on promotional material for the Right to Buy scheme since May 2010.

Grant Shapps: I am committed to ensuring tenants have full information about the Right to Buy so they can make an informed decision as to whether it is the right choice for them, especially since the reinvigoration of Right to Buy in April 2012 increased the maximum discount to £75,000.
	Since May 2010 we have spent £106,761.96, excluding VAT, on materials to inform eligible tenants about their rights to the right to buy scheme. These include Right to Buy application forms and booklets for tenants, posters and other materials for local authorities to use to inform tenants about the new discounts, and advertisements in social housing newsletters about the changes. It also includes the new Right to Buy page on Facebook and Google adwords directing tenants to the Direct.Gov content on Right to Buy which has been viewed around 170,000 times and from which the Right to Buy booklet and forms have been downloaded several thousand times.
	To place this targeted spending in context, the Department under the last Administration spent £6.3 million just on TV, radio and press advertising in 2008-09 and £4.4 million in 2009-10.

Sports: Clubs

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether sport club supporters' groups will be eligible for funding from the right to bid fund.

Andrew Stunell: It is our intention for the Community Right to Bid to support the continuing use of recreational and sport facilities, and to empower local voluntary and community groups. We are in the process of agreeing the eligibility criteria for community groups wishing to access funding to use the Right to Bid. Further details will be available when the support programme is launched later this year.

JUSTICE

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what steps will be taken to assess offenders' alcohol problems and addictions prior to the introduction of compulsory sobriety schemes;
	(2)  what guidance will be given to courts in cases of offences where the offender has significant alcohol addiction problems when imposing a sentence of compulsory sobriety.

Crispin Blunt: The new alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement for community orders imposed under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 was introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. The provisions of the 2012 Act make clear that a court can only impose an alcohol abstinence requirement if it is satisfied that the offender is not dependent on alcohol.

Child: Maintenance

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that HM Courts and Tribunal Service hears appeals relating to the Child Support Agency as quickly as possible.

Jonathan Djanogly: Appeals against decisions relating to the Child Support Agency are heard by the First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS).
	In order to ensure equal access to justice for appellants across the range of appeals heard by the Tribunal, a ‘first in, first out’ policy operates across all appeals to ensure that the oldest cases are listed first.
	Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is working hard to increase the capacity of the SSCS Tribunal and reduce waiting times. It has implemented a range of measures which include recruiting more judges and medical panel members; increasing administrative resources; securing additional hearing venues; increasing the number of cases listed in each Tribunal session; running double shifts in its largest processing centre; running Saturday sittings in some of the busiest venues; and setting up a customer contact centre to deal with telephone inquiries.
	All of this is having a positive effect. The total number of disposals has increased significantly from 279,000 in 2009-10 to 380.000 in 2010-11 and the tribunal expects to dispose of around 435,000 appeals in 2011-12, with the capacity for half a million disposals in 2012-13. Disposals outstripped receipts for the 12 months between January 2011 and December 2011, and the number of cases waiting to be heard reduced by over 44,000 between April and December 2011. The average waiting time has stabilised nationally, and is beginning to fall across many venues.

Claims Management Services

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will consider introducing proposals to bring claims management firms within the remit of the statutory Legal Ombudsman.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Legal Ombudsman is currently preparing a business case proposing that consumer/client complaints about claims management companies should fall within its remit. Upon receipt of that business case, I will consider whether or not the provisions in the Legal Services Act 2007 to extend that Act's complaints handling regime to claims management companies should be commenced.

Closed Material Procedures

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which Government Department made the decision to use a closed material procedure on each occasion on which that procedure has been used in each of the last 10 years.

Kenneth Clarke: Closed Material Procedures (CMPs) are available in a number of different contexts, including 14 different contexts in legislation referred to in written evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on the Justice and Security Green Paper (and published by that Committee). How CMPs are initiated depends on the type of proceedings concerned, and it is not always the decision of the Department. In some cases, such as the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), the decision to refer a case to a closed procedure lies with the Secretary of State (in the case of SIAC, the Home Secretary). In other cases, such as TPIM proceedings, CMPs are automatically available. In contexts such as Employment Tribunal proceedings the relevant Secretary of State applies to the court. In other cases, including some Norwich Pharmacal claims and some judicial reviews, there is no provision for CMPs in legislation, but CMPs have been held either at the order of the court (though that is no longer possible in civil damages cases following the Supreme Court judgment in Al Rawi and Others in July 2011), or with the consent of parties to proceedings.
	CMPs have been used in cases involving a number of Government Departments, including the Home Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Northern Ireland Office. Figures are not held centrally on which Departments are involved in specific types of litigation, and this includes litigation involving Closed Material Procedures.

Community Orders

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the average cost of supervising an individual under the proposed intensive community punishment order.

Crispin Blunt: ‘The Punishment and Reform: Effective Community Sentences’ consultation proposes to develop an Intensive Community Punishment Order for offenders who deserve a significant level of punishment, but who are better dealt with in the community to maintain ties with work and family. As set out in the impact assessment, the consultation asks respondents for their views on how ICPO could work and MOJ will assess the impacts when the final proposal is developed.
	The impact assessment that MOJ published alongside the consultation can be found on the following webpage:
	https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/effective-community-services-1

Contempt of Court: Sentencing

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people have received custodial sentences after being found guilty of contempt of court in (a) magistrates courts and (b) Crown courts in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people have been convicted of contempt of court in the last five years;
	(3)  how many people have been prosecuted for contempt of court in the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: The number of defendants found guilty and committed to immediate custody under sections 8 and 14 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 at the Crown court in England and Wales, from 2007 to 2011 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	A finding of guilt for contempt of court may result from an incident occurring during an ongoing trial for another offence. Data available from the Crown court on convictions and committals to custody for contempt of court given in the table are on a principal offence basis. This is where the heaviest penalty that was imposed was for contempt of court.
	Information about contempt of court at the magistrates courts is included in a miscellaneous group of offences that cannot be separately analysed.
	
		
			 Number of defendants found guilty and committed to custody at the Crown court under sections 8 and 14 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, England and Wales, 2007 to 2011(1,2) 
			  Found guilty Immediate custody 
			 2007 11 5 
			 2008 10 8 
			 2009 29 12 
			 2010 37 19 
			 2011 39 16 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Court Orders: Compensation

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to ensure that compensation orders are related to the disposable income of perpetrators.

Jonathan Djanogly: In cases involving death, injury, loss or damage, the courts are required to consider making a compensation order, and to give reasons if no such order is made. Magistrates courts can order compensation up to a maximum of £5,000 per offence but there is no financial limit in the Crown court. Courts are however required to have regard to the financial means of the offender when deciding whether to make a compensation order and when deciding on its amount.
	In order to assess the defendant's financial means courts will review a means form when it is supplied by the defendant. In cases where the defendant does not attend court or no means information has been supplied the sentencing guidelines say the court can assume a relevant weekly income of £350 for the defendant and set financial penalties, including compensation orders, based on that amount.

Courts: Fines

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were given court fines in each of the last four years; and how many of those fines were paid in full.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice collects and publishes data on the sentence given for the principal offence each offender is charged with. Table 1 shows the number of offenders sentenced to a fine for their principal offence between 2008 and 2011, we do not collect centrally data on offenders who received a fine for a secondary offence. Prior to April 2011 HMCTS did not record, at a national level, the time taken to collect financial penalties and so cannot say how many were paid in full prior to this date. Table 2 shows the number of accounts opened since April 2011 and closed by the end of December 2011, the latest data available. This includes fines paid in full and any which have been legally or administratively cancelled, we are unable to separate these without manually inspecting each account which would incur disproportionate costs. Last year (2011) HMCTS collected £277 million in financial penalties compared to £251 million in 2008 and 2009, a 10% increase.
	HMCTS has achieved this by focusing on early compliance with financial impositions by using a number of methods such as use of telephone and text message reminders to defaulters, intelligence tracing tools, increased use of enforcement sanctions like deduction from benefit orders and attachment of earnings and targeted payment blitzes on specific groups of defaulters. There are a number of other initiatives being developed to further improve the collection of financial penalties.
	Financial penalties include amounts for fines, costs, prosecution costs, legal aid. victim surcharge, compensation and unpaid fixed penalties and penalty notices for disorder that are registered as fines for enforcement. Accounts still open include fines that are being collected by instalments, those with deductions from benefit and those which have been given time to pay.
	
		
			 Table 1: Offenders sentenced to a fine 2008 to 2011(1) 
			  Total 
			 2008 890,296 
			 2009 946,146 
			 2010 893,931 
			 2011 851,607 
			 (1) Data taken from Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly Update to December 2011. Notes: 1. Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. 2. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Financial Impositions in England and Wales 
			  Total Imposed in Period (£) Total Collected in Period(1) (£) Accounts Opened in Period Accounts Opened and Closed in Period(2) 
			 April to December 2011 (3)294,000,000 (3)209,000,000 (4)964,000 (4)420,000 
			 (1) Total collected includes payments made against fines imposed prior to April 2011. (2) Accounts closed will include those paid in full and any legally or administratively cancelled. (3) Rounded to nearest £ million. (4) Rounded to nearest thousand.

Crimes of Violence

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the evidence to support the hypothesis that viewing violent videos or films could have been a factor in cases in the criminal justice system.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 12 June 2012
	I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
	The Government keep abreast of the academic research on this subject, but when viewed as a whole, there is no persuasive evidence of a causal link between violent material in films and videos and violent behaviour in real life.
	However, we believe it is important to ensure that children are not exposed to inappropriate material and that is why there is a classification system in place—operated by the British Board of Film Classification.

Domestic Violence

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many men were reconvicted of domestic violence offences within (a) one year and (b) two years of completing a domestic violence-related programme administered by the probation service in England and Wales in each year since 2005.

Crispin Blunt: Domestic violence is not recorded as a specific offence type and as a result we are currently not able to identify how many men who have completed domestic violence programmes administered by probation trusts, have been re-convicted of domestic violence related offences.

Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what training his Department provides to enable its staff to recognise victims of human trafficking.

Crispin Blunt: Prison and probation staff receive core training in assessing and managing offenders' risk of harm, in order to develop a plan to manage offenders' risk of harm. In developing a risk management plan, offender managers (probation) and offender supervisors (prisons) need to use all available information about offenders, in order to, amongst other things, identify individuals who might be at risk from those offenders, including victims of human trafficking.
	Offenders convicted of the most serious sexual and violent offences fall to be managed under the statutory Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Within MAPPA, the police, probation and Prison Services are required to work together to manage the risks presented by eligible offenders. Thus, for MAPPA-managed offenders, local police who have intelligence and information that offenders are engaged in, or might be engaged in, human trafficking, would feed such intelligence and information into risk management plans, in order to protect known and potential victims.
	Assistance is available from the UK Human Trafficking Centre which provides tactical advice via a 24/7 helpline and can deliver bespoke training material on request.
	Awareness of human trafficking may be raised amongst prison and probation by means of training and guidance produced by the Home Office.

Oakwood Prison

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  when he expects HMP Oakwood to reach full operating capacity;
	(2)  how many prisoners he expects to be held in HMP Oakwood in each week until December 2012;
	(3)  how many prisoners have been held in HMP Oakwood in each week since its opening.

Crispin Blunt: HMP Oakwood's certified normal accommodation is 1,605 places and it is expected to be fully operational by 2 November 2012. The forecast build up of operational capacity at HMP Oakwood is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Date (Friday) Estimated available capacity 
			 2012  
			 15 June 221 
			 22 June 292 
			 29 June 363 
			 6 July 434 
			 13 July 505 
			 20 July 576 
			 27 July 647 
			 3 August 718 
			 10 August 789 
			 17 August 860 
			 24 August 931 
			 31 August 1,002 
			 7 September 1,073 
			 14 September 1,144 
			 21 September 1,215 
			 28 September 1,286 
			 5 October 1,357 
			 12 October 1,428 
			 19 October 1,499 
		
	
	
		
			 26 October 1,570 
			 2 November 1,605 
			 9 November 1,605 
			 16 November 1,605 
			 23 November 1,605 
			 30 November 1,605 
			 7 December 1,605 
			 14 December 1,605 
			 21 December 1,605 
			 28 December 1,605 
		
	
	It is expected that all of these places will be available to hold prisoners, although actual usage will depend on regional population pressures and the operation population management needs of NOMS.
	The following table shows the number of prisoners held in HMP Oakwood in each week since its opening.
	
		
			 Date (Friday) HMP Oakwood's population 
			 2012  
			 27 April 17 
			 4 May 43 
			 11 May 42 
			 18 May 59 
			 25 May 93 
			 8 June 163 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible error with data entry and processing.

Offenders: Mental Illness

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to reduce crime amongst offenders diagnosed as having two or more mental illnesses.

Crispin Blunt: Information specific to offenders who have two or more clinically diagnosed mental illnesses is not held centrally.
	It is unlikely that most offenders with mental disorders offend primarily as a direct result of their disorder. It may however be a contributory factor and may also undermine an individual's ability to engage with interventions which support rehabilitation and reduce reoffending.
	We are committed to tackling the underlying physical and mental health issues which some offenders have. Our priority is to ensure that those with mental health problems are identified as early as possible in the criminal justice system, so that the right treatment can be provided in the most appropriate setting. An example of this is the reconfiguration of services for offenders with personality disorder, so that disorders can be identified earlier and more offenders offered effective treatment.
	We are working closely with the Department of Health to deliver the commitments outlined in the Mental Health Strategy 2011 and the Breaking the Cycle Green Paper including:
	Further developing liaison and diversion services for offenders with mental health issues and other vulnerabilities in police custody suites and at courts, and rolling out these services by 2014 (subject to business case approval); and
	testing options for intensive, treatment based alternatives to custody.
	In addition, provision in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will make it easier for courts to use the mental health treatment requirement as part of community orders by simplifying the assessment process and ensuring that those who require treatment receive it as early as possible.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what (a) meetings he has had with and (b) representations he has received from PortalCo on the practicality of implementing changes to the RTA portal by April 2013, in respect of inclusion of (i) higher value road traffic accidents, (ii) employers' liability claims, (iii) public liability claims; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he expects to publish draft rules to extend the RTA portal to (a) higher value road traffic accidents, (b) employers' liability claims and (c) public liability claims; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what his definition is of a public liability personal injury claim;
	(4)  how many and what proportion of claims dropped out of the RTA portal at each stage in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available; and what the predominant reason was for dropping out at each stage;
	(5)  how many and what proportion of claims for (a) road accidents, (b) employers' liability and (c) public liability dealt with in the (i) fast track and (ii) portal he estimates will be dealt with under the small claims system under his proposal to increase the limit for small claims to £5,000; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  if he will place a copy of Professor Fenn's report on the Road Traffic Accident portal system in the Library;
	(7)  what his policy is on the use of the Road Traffic Accident portal by unrepresented claimants when bringing a personal injury claim; and whether such claimants will be required to use the portal in the event of an increase in the small claims limit;
	(8)  what assessment he has made of the likely change in the number and proportion of claims that will enter the Road Traffic Accidents portal if his proposal to increase the small claims limit for personal injury claims to £5,000 is implemented.

Jonathan Djanogly: (1) The Government have announced their intention to extend the Pre-Action Protocol for low value personal injury claims in road traffic accidents (the RTA Protocol) on 9 February 2012. The extended scheme will be implemented by April 2013 and will include road traffic accident, employer's liability and public liability claims up to a value of £25.000. I met with members of the RTA Portal Company Board on 1 March 2012 to discuss issues arising from the extension in terms of the modification of the RTA Portal. On 22 March 2012, I hosted a roundtable meeting to discuss issues relating to the extension with key stakeholders, including representatives of the RTA Portal Company.
	I have not received any written representations on these issues directly from the RTA Portal Company, other than in connection with these meetings. However, I am aware of the company's concerns about the practicality of implementing modifications to the RTA Portal resulting from extension of the RTA Protocol by April 2013, and my officials are working with the company to address these concerns.
	(2) The revision of the RTA Protocol and the supporting Civil Procedure Rules is being taken forward by a sub-committee of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee. It is not appropriate, therefore, for me to comment on the timing of the publication of any such revision. Any modification of the RTA Portal is a matter for the RTA Portal Company.
	(3) The definition of a public liability personal injury claim for the purposes of the extended RTA personal injury scheme will be set out in the relevant Pre-Action Protocol.
	(4) The RTA Portal is run by the RTA Portal Company, which is a privately owned and privately funded enterprise. Therefore, this Department does not hold the information requested. However, I understand from the RTA Portal Company that since its go-live date in April 2010:
	the main reason for drop out at Stage 1 is timeout in the absence of a decision by the insurer with regard to liability (356,529), representing 26% of submitted claims; and
	the predominant reason for drop out at Stage 2 is caused by a timeout for no response (34,335) which represents 2.5% of submitted claims.
	The RTA Portal Company does not hold information about cases which have proceeded to Stage 3, as this is not a function of the RTA Portal.
	(5) The potential impact of increasing the small claims personal injury limit on the number and proportion of RTA, employer's liability and public liability claims using the fast track and the RTA Protocol will be assessed in the light of responses to the forthcoming consultation on increasing that limit.
	(6) I can confirm that a copy of Professor Fenn's report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses on publication.
	(7) The RTA Pre-action Protocol allows unrepresented claimants to bring a personal injury claim. The operation of the RTA Portal in this regard is a matter for the RTA Portal Company. The use of the RTA Protocol and RTA Portal by such claimants in the event of an increase to the small claims PI limit will be reviewed in the light of the forthcoming consultation.
	(8) The potential impact of increasing the small claims personal injury limit on use of the RTA Protocol (and, therefore, on use of the RTA Portal) will be assessed in the light of responses to the forthcoming consultation on increasing that limit.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what (a) discussions he has had with and (b) representations he has received from (i) the medical professional bodies, (ii) the insurance industry, (iii) private medical companies and (iv) other private medical bodies on his proposal for a panel of doctors for whiplash claims; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  on what dates he has met representatives of the insurance industry to discuss his proposed increase in the small claims limit for personal injury claims; what matters were discussed; and what other representations he has received from the insurance industry on this proposal;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with Lord Justice Jackson on his proposed increase in the small claims limit for personal injury claims; and what matters were raised during these discussions.

Jonathan Djanogly: On 2 May 2012 I attended an insurance summit and confirmed the Ministry of Justice will be consulting on:
	(i) options to raise the small claims threshold for personal injury claims
	(ii) the use of independent medical panels
	There have been no ministerial discussions with representatives from medical professional bodies, the insurance industry or private medical companies about these issues. However, as part of the consultation development process, we will engage with stakeholders prior to the launch of the proposed consultation on this issue in July.
	Representations on the use of independent medical panels have been received from:
	The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
	The British Osteopathic Association
	Medicals Direct Group Health
	Medicolegal Wessex
	IPRS Group
	NeuroPAS Global LLC
	The Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital
	The Association of British Insurers
	No discussions have been held with Lord Justice Jackson on the proposal to consult on raising the small claims limit for personal injury claims.

Prisoner Escapes

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what reports he has received of the escape of and attempts to recapture John Anslow; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The Prison Service investigation into this incident has now been completed and the recommendations made as a result of the inquiry are being implemented. Criminal investigations by the police into the case continue. It is anticipated that a written ministerial statement relating to the Prison Service investigation will be made before summer recess.

Prisoners on Remand: Females

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many women from Redditch are being held in custody.

Crispin Blunt: As at 25 May there were two female offenders originating from the Redditch constituency area who were held in female prisons.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	Information on offenders' residences is provided by offenders on reception into prison and recorded on a central IT system. Addresses can include a home address, an address to which offenders intend to return on discharge or next of kin address.
	If no address is given, an offender's committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. This is the case for one of the prisoners in this answer. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 3% of all offenders.

Prisoners: Repatriation

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals sentenced to jail in the UK were transferred to serve their sentences in other EU member states in each year since 2009 under the terms of EU Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA; and how many individuals sentenced to jail in other EU member states were transferred to serve their sentence in the UK under that decision in each year since 2009.

Crispin Blunt: Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments in criminal matters imposing custodial sentences or measures involving deprivation of liberty for the purpose of their enforcement in the European Union was adopted on 27 November 2008. It entered into force on 5 December 2011. To date nine member states including the United Kingdom have implemented the framework decision. No prisoners have yet been transferred into or out of the United Kingdom under this arrangement.

Probation

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals subject to probation measures imposed in the UK have had their probation measures supervised by the authorities of another EU member state under the terms of EU Council Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA in each year since 2009; and how many individuals subject to probation measures imposed in other EU member states have had their probation measures supervised by the UK authorities under that decision in each year since 2009.

Crispin Blunt: To date, no offenders subject to community sentences imposed by courts in the United Kingdom have been supervised by the authorities of another EU member state; and no offenders sentenced in other EU member states have been supervised by authorities in the UK under the terms of Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA.

Reparation by Offenders

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what offences he proposes that restorative justice practices will be applied.

Crispin Blunt: Restorative justice offers victims an opportunity to be heard and to have a say in the resolution of offences. It can only meaningfully take place where the offender admits responsibility and both they, and their victim, are fully able and willing to engage in a restorative process.
	We plan to develop a cross-criminal justice system framework for restorative justice to provide guidance to local practitioners on how restorative approaches can be effectively developed across the system and when they will be appropriate. We will draw upon existing evidence and practices that are already in place with the aim of spreading best practice across the system.

Reparation by Offenders

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will consult the victims of serious crime on the use of restorative justice practices.

Crispin Blunt: Restorative justice can only meaningfully take place where the offender admits responsibility and both they, and their victim, are fully able and willing to engage in a restorative process.
	The Government's response to the ‘Getting it right for Victims and Witnesses’ consultation will be published shortly. This will set out the additional work we propose to undertake to enhance the roles of, and engagement of victims in restorative justice.

Road Traffic Offences

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to reform the criminal justice system in order to improve public safety and the performance of the Probation Service; and what the outcomes of these initiatives were.

Crispin Blunt: On 27 March we published proposals to deliver more effective and efficient probation services, alongside proposals for reforming community sentences. The Government are seeking to extend competition in probation services and give probation trusts a stronger role as commissioners of competed services, in order to better punish and reform offenders and protect the public. The consultation closes on 22 June.
	This Government have also legislated to introduce police and crime commissioners, who will have a crucial role to play in this context. In addition to their core policing function, police and crime commissioners will have a remit to cut crime, and will have commissioning powers and funding to enable them to do this. The Government expect police and crime commissioners to work constructively with other local leaders to transform services aimed at improving public safety.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what proportion of appeals to the Tribunals Service regarding (a) disability living allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support, (d) jobseeker's allowance and (e) tax credits were successful in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 from appellants in (A) Coventry, (B) the West Midlands and (C) England;
	(2)  what the average length of time was for the Tribunals Service to administer a First-Tier Tribunal social security and child support appeal in respect of employment and support allowance from appellants in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

Jonathan Djanogly: Appeals against decisions made by the Department for Work and Pensions on an individual's entitlement to social security and child support are heard by the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support).
	Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not hold data specific to Coventry or the West Midlands. However, the majority of social security and child support (SSCS) appeals from appellants in Coventry are heard in the hearing venue in Coventry, although this venue also hears appeals from other nearby locations.
	The majority of SSCS appeals made by appellants from the West Midlands are heard in the hearing venues in Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Stoke, Wolverhampton, Worcester and Kidderminster, although these venues also hear appeals from other nearby locations.
	The data are provided for the financial year 2010-11, as data broken down by financial year is more readily available, and for the period from 1 April to 31 December 2011, the latest date for which information is available.
	The following table shows the proportion of appeals regarding (a) disability living allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support, (d) jobseeker's allowance and (e) tax credits which were successful in the financial year 2010-11 and from 1 April to 31 December 2011 (the latest date for which information is available) at the hearing venues in Coventry, the West Midlands and England.
	
		
			 Successful appeals 
			 Percentage 
			  Coventry West Midlands England 
			  2010-11 1 April to 31 December 2011 2010-11 1 April to 31 December 2011 2010-11 1 April to 31 December 2011 
			 Disability living allowance 39 45 29 30 38 39 
			 Employment and support allowance 33 34 29 33 37 37 
			 Income support 27 54 31 31 29 26 
			 Jobseeker’s allowance 20 14 19 16 14 16 
			 Tax credits (1)0 15 15 8 10 10 
			 (1 )The figure appears as 0% due to the very small number of appeals. There were nine tax credit appeals heard in the Coventry hearing venue in 2010-11. 
		
	
	The following table shows the average time taken from receipt of an employment and support allowance (ESA) appeal to disposal by the tribunal in the financial year 2010-11 and from 1 April to 31 December 2011 (the latest date for which information is available) at the hearing venues in Coventry, the West Midlands and England.
	
		
			 ESA appeal times from receipt to disposal 
			 Weeks 
			  2010-11 1 April to 31 December 2011 
			 Coventry 21.1 36.3 
			 West Midlands 22.5 33.3 
			 England 19.3 24.7 
		
	
	HMCTS is working hard to increase the capacity of the SSCS Tribunal and reduce waiting times. It has implemented a range of measures which include recruiting more judges and medical panel members; increasing administrative resources; securing additional hearing venues; increasing the number of cases listed in each tribunal session; running double shifts in its largest processing centre; running Saturday sittings in some of the busiest venues; and setting up a customer contact centre to deal with telephone enquiries.
	All of this is having a positive effect. The number of disposals has increased significantly from 279,000 in 2009-10 to 380,000 in 2010-11 and the tribunal expects to have disposed of around 435,000 appeals in 2011-12, with the capacity for half a million disposals in 2012-13. Disposals outstripped receipts for the 12 months between January 2011 and December 2011, and the number of cases waiting to be heard reduced by over 44,000 between April and December 2011. The average waiting time has stabilised nationally, and is beginning to fall across many venues.

Squatting

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Government plan to review the law on adverse property possession.

Jonathan Djanogly: We have no plans to review the law of England and Wales relating to the ownership of land by adverse possession.

Terrorism: Ex Gratia Payments

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications his Department has received for the ex gratia scheme for victims of terrorist acts overseas.

Crispin Blunt: As at week commencing 12 June 2012, there have been a total of 12 applications to the ex gratia scheme for certain victims of terrorism overseas which opened on 16 April this year.